Turn a promotion or tenure dossier from a daunting project into a structured, supported process.
Over four months, you’ll build your dossier section by section - developing your teaching, scholarship, and service narratives, organizing the evidence behind them, and preparing supporting materials, alongside an experienced facilitator and a small cohort working toward the same goal.
This edition of the Academic Writing Circle is a facilitated, cohort-based program for faculty and academic professionals preparing a promotion or tenure dossier. It brings together three things that can be difficult to find in one place: practical guidance on what each part of the dossier needs to accomplish, protected time to write and revise, and mentorship from an experienced faculty developer who has spent decades helping colleagues present their work effectively.
The program is built around structure and accountability. You begin by mapping your institution’s promotion or tenure criteria to your own accomplishments and materials, then break the work into manageable milestones. Meeting by meeting, you make progress alongside a small cohort and a mentor who provides guidance, feedback, and accountability along the way.
By the end of the Circle, your goal is to have a complete, well-organized, and carefully reviewed dossier ready for submission according to your institution’s requirements and timeline.
By the end of this program, you should be able to:
Virtual and cohort-based
Over four months
Small group of up to 8 participants
Sessions run biweekly, with additional check-ins as needed.
A focused mini-workshop on one craft or publishing topic
Facilitated, protected time to make real progress.
Brief accountability updates from each member.
Phyllis’s guidance plus peer feedback, including 1:1 sessions.
You keep writing and report back at the next check-in.
Focused feedback that strengthens your draft.
Over four months, you take your dossier from scattered materials to a complete, submission-ready document. That means finished narratives for teaching, scholarship, and service; supporting evidence selected and organized; external reviewers identified and approached; and the whole package assembled to your institution’s format. Candidates whose deadline falls during the program typically submit before it ends. Those on a later timeline finish with a complete draft and a clear plan for the remaining steps.
You’ll walk away with:
A draft dossier organized to your institution’s format.
Written feedback from your mentor and cohort on your narratives.
A working list of external reviewers and the materials they need.
A submission timeline with the remaining steps mapped out.
Dr. Phyllis Blumberg is an author and faculty developer with more than fifty years of experience helping educators do their best work. She earned her PhD in educational psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and spent two decades at the University of the Sciences, where she trained the majority of the faculty to teach effectively and conduct scholarship of teaching and learning. As part of this work, she has helped many faculty publish.
Phyllis describes her strength simply: she’s a connector who’s exceptional at helping people translate complex ideas into something clear and manageable — exactly what a writer needs when a big project feels overwhelming.
Phyllis is the author of four major books and over 60 peer-reviewed publications.
Throughout the four months, the Circle may bring in guest speakers who know the promotion and tenure process firsthand. These are experienced faculty and academic leaders who can offer perspective on what happens when a committee reads a dossier, what reviewers look for, and how different pieces of the case come together.
Guest sessions are recorded and shared, so you keep the material even if you miss one live.
No — but come with your institution’s promotion or tenure criteria and whatever materials you already have. The early sessions help you map one to the other.
The goal is a complete, organized draft ready for submission. Candidates whose deadline falls during the program often submit before it ends. Those on a later timeline finish with a full draft and a clear plan for the remaining steps.
No. We provide guidance and support to help you prepare a strong dossier, but we cannot guarantee promotion, tenure, or any other outcome. All decisions are made by your institution, according to its own criteria and process. Nothing in this program is legal or employment advice. If your case involves a grievance, an appeal, or a question about your contract, consult your faculty union, your HR office, or an attorney.
No. Your institution’s requirements and your own mentors come first. The Circle gives you structure, protected time, and readers outside your field — it does not substitute for the people who know your department’s standards.
Bi-weekly
Virtual
Please note
We provide guidance and support to help you prepare a strong dossier, but we cannot guarantee promotion, tenure, or any other outcome. All decisions are made by your institution.
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