Read your standards carefully. Similarly, write your standards carefully.

For example, “The candidate must hold a Tri-Council grant” means something very different from “There must be evidence that the candidate can obtain Tri-Council funding.”

The first phrase narrowly ties a candidate to actually holding Tri- Council funding at the point of the tenure/promotion decision. This kind of wording gave many good Canadian scholars a shock when they inexplicably lost their grants after the sudden sea change at NSERC several years ago.

The second phrase gives committees flexibility when an otherwise capable researcher has not obtained Tri-Council funding.

You may even decide that it is not appropriate to tie promotion and tenure to specific agencies, whose standards may change independently.

Unfortunately, some units have vaguely worded standards.

If you have questions regarding the interpretation of your standards, simply let us know in a reply to this email and someone will contact you.

Two lunches have been scheduled for April 9 and 12 from 11:30 to 1:30 in the Club Room of the University Club. If you are planning to go for tenure or promotion this year, consider joining USFA representatives to talk about tenure and promotion process. Please let us know in a reply to this email, or by phone (306-966-5609), which of these dates work for you.