How to get tenure

To get tenure, you need to get on a tenure track asf an assistant professor, publish your research, and pass a tenure review. Here are some details on each of these steps and others you can take to get tenure:

• Get on a tenure track as an assistant professor. To accomplish this step you must have met all of the educational requirements to become a professor, including obtaining a doctoral degree in a specific field.

  Getting on the tenure track involves applying for professor jobs at universities and colleges. Typically, to get tenure, candidates must apply to a tenure-track assistant professor role.

  Some colleges offer tenure track and non-tenure-track positions. This is because there are normally only a few tenure-track positions available each year.

  Tenure track professors teach full-time and up to six classes per term. They might also provide mentor status to students and perform advisory functions on boards for student organizations.

• Publish your research. If you do any research while you are an assistant professor, you should seek to publish it in journals specific to your field.

  In many cases, assistant professors expand on the dissertation they completed for their Ph.D. and seek to get their findings published in an appropriate journal.

  Teams of experts usually evaluate all submissions to professional journals. Doing this step can help you gain recognition in your specific field and increase your chances of getting tenure.

• Transition into an associate professor. After around seven years on the assistant professor tenure track, you will have the opportunity to become an associate professor.

  This is your first opportunity for a tenure review. Passing this would mean you would become a tenured associate professor.

  Here are some factors that the tenure review board will consider:

  • Your research (published and unpublished)

  • Teaching performance (average grades of students in your classes)

  • Any other services you have provided to your department (including volunteer)