When it comes time to promotion, the CV is a crucial document. Members of the Appointments and Promotions Committee can see scholarly activity at a glance and weigh a candidate’s achievements against departmental criteria.
For researchers, the measures are fairly straightforward: number and quality of publications and grants. CVs capture those data effectively. But for educators, it is more difficult to encapsulate quantity and quality on a CV. Awards help, but there are not enough awards to recognize all the outstanding teaching that goes on at an academic medical center.
One solution is the educator’s portfolio. This packet supplements the CV with more detailed examples of pedagogical effectiveness. These examples could include student evaluations, letters of thanks, student outcomes, mentoring activities, and invitations to teach a course again.
Of course, putting together a portfolio assumes that the candidate has been keeping track of all these things. That’s why it’s a good idea to keep a file marked “Promotion” and add everything relevant as it comes across your desk. When it comes time to put together the CV and portfolio, it will be just a matter of editing.