The Interfolio Blog

A few weeks ago, Inside Higher Ed columnist Kerry Ann Rockquemore began what will be a series of posts discussing challenges and solutions to surviving the tenure track process with your sanity intact. The series is entitled "Winning Tenure Without Losing Your Soul." 

Tenure track can often be a long and arduous process fraught with high expectations, heavy workloads and lots of opportunities for frustration and despair. But Kerry Ann writes matter-of-factly about ways to streamline the process, focus on the priorities, and get it done.

One post focused on the challenge of publishing quality content with frequency and some of the barriers to that goal many tenure-seekers come up against. She recommends careful and strategic time management and planning mapped to a semester schedule and with clearly defined goals. Interestingly, she got a lot of push back from readers who argued that she does not appreciate the pressure tenure track teachers are under and the time constraints placed on their schedules. 

In response, a later post argues that while time constraints and pressure are par for the course in most tenure track situations, they are not an excuse for letting priorities slide. Being on tenure track is by nature a difficult challenge, one that, Kerry Ann argues, can never be fully balanced out. The challenge instead is to get through the process by being as organized as possible while recognizing that you may never feel fully satisfied with how much you are able to do each semester. 

These two posts are a great first look at challenges faced by tenure track seekers, and the posts will continue throughout the semester, so be sure to check back to read future thoughts. To read the full text and Kerry Ann's recommendations, click here.