Section 5 of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Faculty Handbook states:

Promotion Policy and Guidelines

I. Introduction

The ultimate purpose of the process of promotion in academic rank is to encourage faculty members to achieve their highest potential and to foster their development in teaching, scholarship, and service to the University and the community. Promotion in academic rank signifies that a faculty member has demonstrated accomplishments in teaching, scholarship 1, and service to the University and the community. Promotion in academic rank demonstrates the confidence that the university has in the faculty member’s potential for increasing accomplishments in teaching, scholarship, and service to the University and the community.

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1The term scholarship in this document is defined broadly as including research, scholarly activities, and creative activity, which vary from discipline to discipline. Such scholarly work is not limited to traditional forms of expression; it also includes scholarly activities involving digital media, digital methods, and digital form.  In addition to encouraging scholarly achievement in the traditional scholarly communication model, the university also encourages achievement by faculty members in digital scholarship.  Each academic unit bears primary responsibility for evaluating the quality of scholarship appropriate to the discipline.  Further, the University promotes the vision of open access to taxpayer-funded academic research.

Similarly, the university encourages achievement by faculty members in interdisciplinary and collaborative scholarship and in interdisciplinary and collaborative teaching.  Tenure and promotion evaluations, and all other faculty evaluations, shall recognize achievements in digital scholarship, achievements in interdisciplinary and collaborative scholarship, and achievements in interdisciplinary and collaborative teaching.  These activities enhance competency as a teacher and contribute to the publicly available knowledge in the candidate’s academic field.”

As such, the IRIS Center aims to support faculty as they create their digital scholarship. The Center’s objectives are to:

  1. Cultivate a community of digital humanities scholars (faculty and students) on campus.
  2. Support faculty-led digital humanities research and generate grant money for their work and, by extension, the Center and the University.
  3. Prepare humanities students with 21st Century skills via Digital Humanities-related partnerships with the community.
  4. Address and remedy concerns of “the digital divide” frequently manifested as lack of access, training, and engagement to particular student populations, including African American and first-generation students.

Principles of Faculty-Center Reciprocity

What the IRIS Center can offer you

-Grant writing support in relation to technical specifications

-Letters of support about usage for equipment and space

-Possible connections to collaborators

-Training on and use of equipment and software

-Classroom visits

-Omeka and WordPress instances

-Assistance in project planning

Faculty obligations in return

-All involved faculty are expected to discuss technical and staffing needs with either the IRIS Project Manager, IRIS Technician, or the IRIS Co-Directors.

-If you expect IRIS to be involved in your grant, we must also be involved in your grant writing process whether you are the Contractor, Collaborator, or Primary Investigator.  This means being in touch with us from the early stages of grant preparation.

-Keep IRIS updated on the status of your application. Even if it is unsuccessful, we are able to help with re-submissions.

-All student users of the IRIS Center must sign a copy of the Terms & Conditions of Use before they begin using lab equipment each academic year.