Tenure Across Borders - Tomorrow's Professor

For many full-time faculty members who have not earned tenure, the prospect of conducting interdisciplinary research or collaborating across departments can be, professionally speaking, a risky gambit. While many colleges and universities say they want their faculty members to do work in these areas -- and they may even make joint appointments across departments or award grants to carry out such research -- institutional support often falters when it comes time to decide tenure and promotion. Faculty members can be daunted at the prospect of negotiating factions not just in their department, but in another one as well. Turf battles and a misunderstanding of what qualifies as interdisciplinary scholarship also can make it difficult for those sitting on committees to accurately render judgment.