Improving Evaluation of Faculty Conducting Community-Engaged Research: Case Examples and Recommendations for Institutions, Reviewers, and Faculty Candidates

Faculty who conduct Community-Based Participatory Research, Participatory Action Research, and community-engaged research often have a difficult time with retention, tenure, and promotion reviews. Their work may take longer than traditional research, be mischaracterized as service, and be devalued because of the community-facing nature of dissemination products. As faculty at San José State University, we have served on committees at each level of review and found that our updated policy on the “Scholarship of Engagement” and improved training practices have supported fairer evaluation for faculty who use these engaged approaches. At the same time, we believe there are specific strategies that candidates can employ to effectively communicate about their research and increase the likelihood that evaluators who are less familiar with these engaged research approaches will understand the importance of their work. This article describes the retention, tenure, and promotion policy and training practices at San José State University, provides concrete suggestions for faculty candidates crafting their dossier narratives through three case studies, and concludes with recommendations for universities, evaluators, and candidates to support fair evaluation practices.