Dear friends:
This is a summary of the results of our informal survey on the use of external reviewers in tenure decisions:
Answers: 26
USA: 22 (84.62%)
Rest of the world: 4 (15.38%)
AACSB accredited institution: 18 (69.23%)
Non AACSB accredited institution: 8 (30.77%)
Use External Reviewers in Tenure Decisions: 14 (53.85%)
Do Not Use External Reviewers in Tenure Decisions: 12 (46.15%)
Among AACSB accredited institutions:
Use External Reviewers in Tenure Decisions: 12 (66.67%)
Do Not Use External Reviewers in Tenure Decisions: 6 (33.33%)
Evident advantages when using external reviewers in tenure decisions:
*)Unbiased and independent assessment.
*)Absence of inbreeding.
*)Verification by experts outside the university who are more familiar
with the area/quality of the candidate's research (internationally).
*)Comparison with those tenured at other schools. Between
university-standards can be brought into decision.
Identified costs and potential problems when using external reviewers in
tenure decisions:
*)Finding people willing to act as external reviewers. Tenure deadlines
are very strict. The evaluator must be able to return the documents in
time. It is necessary to sent reminders to the external reviewers. Time
costly and expended social capital.
*)The external reviewer uses the criteria of his/her university not ours.
The external reviewer is unfamiliar with teaching and research in our
university.
*)Wrong selection of external reviewers that bias the selection process.
Convenient selection of external reviewers to either aid or sabotage a
candidate.
*)Risk to reputation if an weak candidate eventually gets tenure.
Some suggestions to improve the system:
*)Also use citation and cohort analysis.
*)Make clearer elegibility requirements for external reviewers.
Thanks for your help,
Carlos Alcerreca
ITAM
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