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Valuing and Measuring Scholarly Impact
VPRI portfolio lead
Elicia Maine
Associate Vice-President, Knowledge Mobilization and Innovation (AVPKMI)
Faculty lead
Carman Neustaedter
Dean, Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology
On this Page:
Challenge
The ways in which we generate scholarly impact are varied. They include publications in high-impact journals, publishing books, performances, exhibitions, the engagement of community in research and the mobilization of knowledge to the non-academic community. Current incentive and reward structures within the university do not always reflect modern measures of research impact.
Action
Working with the provost, deans, chairs and directors, the library, and SFU Faculty Relations, we will examine SFU’s incentive and support structures to assess whether they align with the way the university values research impact as well as equity, diversity and inclusion.
Project Goals
1. Continue the momentum of the work done by the first working group (April 2023 - May 2024) that was established to kick start the project.
- May 2024
The membership of the working group has been renewed for another year and some new members have been added. This working group had its first meeting in June 2024. See below for a list of current working group members.
2. Understand and analyse the current Tenure and Promotion Committee (TPC) practices across SFU departments and faculties.
- November 2024
A preliminary analysis using the data gathered from the interviews, departmental guidelines for TPC submissions and Institutional Research Planning by department has been done.
The complete synthesis & analysis is expected to be completed by Spring 2025 using both qualitative and quantitative data analysis tools to find emergent themes, as well as commonalities and diversity across different departments and faculties. This analysis will inform the development of outputs to support the TPC’s assessment of scholarly impact. - August 2024
The TPC sub-committee completed semi structured interviews with 36 TPC chairs across the university (84% of all the TPC Chairs) to better understand different practices of research and scholarly assessment at SFU and examine whether they align with the way SFU values research impact.
- April 2024
The sub-committee developed a project plan and a semi-structured interview schedule for interviewing TPC chairs across the university in order to understand how scholarly impact is measured and valued in TPC processes. This will help inform the development of tools to support TPCs.
The interviews began in April and will continue over the summer semester.
- March 2024
The sub-committee submitted the project for exemption review by SFU Research Ethics which was granted. (Article 2.5 of TCPS 2)
3. Understand and analyse the resources that SFU provides to guide faculty search and renewal practices across SFU departments and faculties
- September 2024
The Faculty Renewal and Retention sub-committee reviewed the materials on EDI Program with training, considerations, and practices for hiring and advancement (similar to the unconscious bias training for TPCs) produced by an external consulting group.
Post the review, the sub-committee provided some initial feedback and identified broader areas relevant to VMSI within the training manual to provide ongoing guidance. Some of these areas include a) addressing structural barriers in academia b) developing criteria c) interactions within committees. - September 2024
This sub-committee also reviewed the new SFU Guidelines for faculty recruitment for search committees developed by the Office of the Vice-President, People, Equity and Inclusion.
Based on its review, the sub-committed provided input and guidance (change in the language) on certain topics within these broader guidelines to diversify the way in which search committees think about valuing and measuring scholarly impact. Some of these topics included a) considerations in developing job criteria b) evaluation of candidates. - April 2024
The sub-committee will be reviewing and providing inputs and guidelines for the material being developed by SFU Equity Office to refresh the required EDI training for search Committees on their hiring, tenure, and promotion processes.
4. Review SFU internal awards and procedures and explore opportunities to include assessment criteria alternatives to traditional academic metrics, and guidance on how to use these.
- September 2024
The administrative sub-committee reviewed an environmental scan of external research awards offered at other universities and some internal faculty awards. Based on that, the sub-committee provided input, promising practices for the new suite of SFU Excellence in Research Awards. - Summer 2024
This sub-committee also shared their input in response to the community consultation email to review proposed changes to the Distinguished SFU Professor Award policy.
5. Build resources for faculty to improve the development of strong, competitive, impact narratives for funding (internal and external) opportunities.
- November 2024
Work is in progress by the administrative sub-committee to identify resources and guides to create a guide for writing impact narratives.
6. Develop recommendations for administrators, faculty, tenure and promotion committees, and hiring committees to enhance scholarly impact assessment and administrative recognition approaches such as awards, faculty renewal plans and department or faculty evaluations
- January 2024
The working group will develop these recommendations and materials over a longer-term horizon as more understanding and knowledge is gathered through the above review of the current practices at the university that involve scholarly impact.
7. Create materials and resources to support implementing these recommendations
Develop shared definitions of core scholarly impact concepts for SFU to support understanding and alignment.
After extensive discussions, the working group established a definition of Valuing and Measuring Scholarly Impact (VMSI) for alignment of the working group and sub-committees, as well as for conducting interviews for TPC Chairs.
The working group has also built an ongoing a library of background literature and tools on research assessment, defining research impact, and international initiatives. If you are interested in learning more or sharing resources, contact Lupin Battersby.
Working Group
| Name | Role | Department/Office |
|---|---|---|
| Lara Beth Aknin | Professor, Area Coordinator, Social Psychology | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences |
| Juan Pablo Alperin | Associate Professor, Publishing Associate Director of Research for the Public Knowledge Project | Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology |
| Lupin Battersby | Knowledge Mobilization Manager | VPRI |
| Derek Bingham | Professor, Statistics & Actuarial Science | Faculty of Science |
| Nicholas Blomley | Professor and Chair, Geography | Faculty of Environment |
| Varundeep Chahal | Strategic Projects Manager | VPRI |
| Habib Chaudhury | Chair and Professor, Department of Gerontology | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences |
| Diane Finegood | Professor and Fellow | Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue |
| Sharon Gorski | Professor, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | Faculty of Science |
| Wenona Hall | Associate Professor, Indigenous Studies | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences |
| Robert Hogg | Distinguished Professor, Associate Dean, Research | Faculty of Health Science |
| Elicia Maine (Co‐Chair) | Associate Vice-President, Knowledge Mobilization and Innovation (AVPKMI), Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship |
Knowledge Mobilization and Innovation (AVPKMI) Beedie School of Business |
| Alison Moore | Digital Scholarship Librarian | SFU Library |
| Carman Neustaedter (Co‐Chair) | Dean | Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology |
| Kam Phung | Assistant Professor | Beedie School of Business |
| Jane Pulkinham | Senior Advisor, Academic Affairs Professor, Sociology | Office of the Provost and Vice President Academic |
| Nathalie Sinclair | Distinguished Professor | Faculty of Education |
Sub-Committees
Considering the types of scholarly impact at SFU, three subcommittees have been formed to deliver on the project goals with specific areas of focus:
- Tenure Promotion
- Faculty Renewal & Retention
- Administrative
Sub-Committee Members
Tenure Promotions Sub-committee
Lead: Elicia Maine
Members: Diane Finegood, Sharon Gorski, Wenona Hall, Nicholas Blomley, Lupin Battersby (honorary member), Livleen Diwana (Executive Assistant)
Faculty Renewal & Retention Sub-committee
Lead: Carman Neustaedter
Members: Lara Aknin, Robert Hogg, Kam Phung, Jane Pulkingham, Nathalie Sinclair
Administrative Sub-committee
Lead: Lupin Battersby
Members: Juan Pablo Alperin, Derek Bingham, Varundeep Chahal, Habib Chaudhury, Alison Moore
If you would like to get more information on the work of the sub-committees, please contact Lupin Battersby.