Professor Sandra Wills
PVC Student Learning
“It’s easier to apply for a new job
elsewhere than get promoted here.”
“There’s no point being designated
teaching-only as you can’t get to
professor that way.”
"Metrics associated with research
are easier to find and apply."
Teachers
DO
get promoted!
Me: 20 years Promotion Committee training
12 years on Promotion Committee
My desk: Promotion Applications 
Teachers DO get promoted!
UOW Promotion Stats 2006-2009
Promotion
to:
Teaching #1
Research #1
Senior Lecturer
Associate Professor
% success
% success
81
95
78
91
You can’t measure teaching!
“Mix of Evidence” framework
one size does not fit all academic careers
UOW promotion stats after 2009
closed the gap between Teaching & Research
BUT
number of applications for teaching #1 declined
THEREFORE
indicates academics still do not believe?
OR
set the bar too high?
Australian
Advisory
Group
Australian universities
Wollongong
External
Evaluator
Tasmania
Four partner benchmarking
(statistics, surveys, interviews)
Frameworks & examples
Forums in AUS & UK
HEA Report & Website
UK
Advisory
Group
Leicester
Newcastle
British universities
Rationale for the project
Strongest opportunity for enhancing
university teaching is when academics
believe that they can be promoted for
excellence in teaching.
Benchmarking staff perceptions
at four universities
staff perceive research activities have greater impact on
promotion prospects, particularly at the two UK universities
since research is currently regarded as the main route to
promotion, staff perceive teaching duties are being neglected
in order to meet research requirements
majority indicated there should be parity in the regard for
teaching & research activities in the promotion process
mixed messages from line managers & senior executives
regarding parity of research & teaching
Benchmarking Promotion Statistics
UK national report 2009
n=46 universities
Lecturer/Snr Lecturer
32%
Reader/Professor
17%
Benchmarking Promotion Statistics 2010 & 2011
Promotion to Senior Lecturer
2 Australian universities 2 British universities
number of teaching-related
applications comparable to
research-related applications
number of teaching-related
applications 1/3 of overall
applications for promotion
success rates high
success rates (45%) about half of
Australian success rates (90%)
success rates comparable with
overall success rates (49%)
but UK overall success rates are
low compared to Australia (95%)
success rates comparable with
the success rates overall
*
*
*
Promotion to Associate Professor and Professor*
*data for these two levels combined
2 Australian universities 2 British universities
percentage of applications for
teaching-related promotion is far
lower than the percentage of
applications overall & lower than
UK percentage
number of applications for
teaching-related promotion only
slightly lower than the number of
applications for Senior Lecturer
success rates about same as UK
success rates
overall success rates slightly
lower than UK partners
success rates the same as Senior
Lecturer rates
success rates comparable with
overall success rates
*
CSU Promotion Statistics 2009 – 2013
n=174 applications
May 2014
One key improvement to promotions at CSU
Aspect
Transparency of criteria and evidence used for
decisions
A more streamlined and clear process
More equitable process/outcomes
Decisions based on better overall/holistic
assessments of academics’ contributions
Better recognition of teaching – its workload
and importance
Frequency
51
24
21
20
20
evidence for promotion
three perspectives on evidence of teaching
scope of activity
40
35
30
25
Professional Learning
Student Engagement
20
Curriculum Development
Research & Scholarship
15
Leadership & Collaboration
10
Proportion of
Activity 5
(%)
0
Lecturer
Professor
sources of evidence
sphere of influence
evidence
framework
UTAS Example
The CSU Academic:
a framework for describing our academic activities
The CSU Academic’s Evidence Guide:
a framework for improving promotion prospects
measuring teaching, research &
engagement in promotion