René West and I invite you to join our new two-part cohort, Pathway to Rank. This mentorship program is designed to help faculty document teaching and service, prepare Rank Petitions, and grow into meritorious educators.

First Meeting: Friday, September 19, 2025, at 1 p.m. in WARE 314 (moved to afternoon due to Dr. Conner’s Investiture). The cohort will meet three times per semester, in person, on Fridays.

Click Here to register

Why this cohort?

Pathway to Rank grew out of last spring’s ACES session with René, Dr. Simone Buys, and Sarah Welshimer. Faculty voiced interest in learning more about the rank petition process, and we designed this program with new faculty, like many of you, in mind.

Learning Objective:

Cultivate excellence in teaching, service, and professional practice while building sustainable systems to track growth, document contributions, and prepare strong Rank and Tenure petitions. Participants will receive 125 points for completing this cohort.

Part One: Foundation & Documentation (Fall 2025)

Strongly suggested for 2nd-year faculty

• Understanding meritorious vs. expected duties
• Building sustainable documentation systems
• Implementing evidence-based teaching strategies
• Expanding service at AC and in the community
• Tracking and reflecting on student data

Part Two: Mentorship & Refinement (Spring 2026)

For faculty who completed Part One and/or are preparing for promotion

• Reviewing Faculty Performance Review and Rank & Tenure requirements
• Aligning accomplishments with AC’s mission and values
• Integrating course data and evaluations into cohesive narratives
• Turning performance reviews into rank narratives
• Learning from successful petitions and best practices

René and I hope you will join us. We're looking forward to seeing you there!