Peer-to-Peer Guidance

The University of Denver’s newly approved faculty-development policy includes providing a way for professors to talk about professional challenges in peer-to-peer conversations.

A More Upbeat Approach to Post-Tenure Review

The University of Denver is instituting a program focused not on punitive measures but on helping professors develop their skills.

To initiate a conversation, individual faculty members identify a question or problem they’re dealing with and invite a small group of experienced professors and staff members to discuss it. The two-hour talks are confidential. The committee that created the framework for the talks thinks it best if faculty members initiate a peer-to-peer conversation at least every three years and at these benchmarks: within three years after being hired, within three years after promotion to associate professor, and within three years after becoming a full professor.

Sample topics listed in the policy include:

How can I advance in rank but still be an engaged scholar, teacher, and university community member?

How can my passion for research, scholarship, and creative activity fuel award-winning teaching?

What do I need to consider if I want to start a family as an academic?

How do I pursue goals that seem just beyond my reach professionally?

Committee members aren’t supposed to be in problem-solving mode, but instead are directed to listen and ask open questions that can help the convener of the discussion see the issue at hand from a different perspective.