Behind the Seams at JITP – Changing Tenure Standards

A few weeks back I was interviewed on the process of publishing in the Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy (JITP) and what the future holds for digitally engaged faculty within the academy. The video above is an edited version of the conversation that I had with some of the editors at JITP on my experience in submitting a controversial article to them for publication.

I say controversial because over the past two years a large portion of my research and publishing interests have been dedicated towards shining a light on the need for higher education to be more open about what is defined as tenure worthy scholarship. I feel fortunate to have found a venue that was open to publishing my stance on a fairly provocative topic within higher education; the need to revise tenure and promotion standards for faculty working with technology. The article I submitted speaks to the issues that need to be addressed if colleges like LaGuardia intend to attract and retain digitally engaged faculty. The title of the piece is “Establishing a New Paradigm: The call to reform the tenure and promotion standards for digital media faculty“, and it was prompted by my own pathway through the tenure system at my college.

I felt inspired to write the article because last year I gave presentations on this topic and other surrounding issues at Annual CUNY IT Conference and the AAUP Annual Conference. The positive response that I received from attendees at both presentations made me feel fairly confident that there was a substantive argument to be made for change in this area.

A digital copy of just my article on tenure and promotion reform can be downloaded from here in pdf format.