Within their area(s) of expertise, all full-time ranked faculty members, including Library regular faculty are responsible for effective scholarly or creative activity. The university expects all faculty members to be active scholars or artists who contribute to the development and application of knowledge and create a dynamic environment for learning. The university expects a faculty member to establish a record of scholarly or creative endeavor that is meaningful within the scholar’s discipline.  Grand Valley State University uses three categories to describe scholarship/creative activities:  Advancement of Knowledge/Creative Expression, Scholarly Engagement, and Professional Development (SG Section 3.01.E.3).

Advancement of Knowledge or Creative Expression (includes, but not limited to):

• Art works placed in a collection
• Artistic performances
• Case publications, if externally peer reviewed
• Conducting a professional ensemble
• Conference presentations (if full proposal is submitted for peer review)
• Conference proceedings papers (if full paper submitted for peer review)
• Directing a professional play or film
• Exhibition of artwork outside of GVSU
• Film screened at a festival
• Open-access scholarly works, if quality has been established through an appropriate  disciplinary process
• Peer-reviewed journal publications
• Preparation of a catalog or materials for an exhibition
• Photography exhibits
• Publishing a translation (if externally peer reviewed)
• Publishing drama, poetry, or fiction
• Recordings
• Scholarly book chapters, if peer reviewed
• Scholarly books (from a reputable publisher as recognized by the discipline)
• Serving as editor of a monograph or journal special edition
• Trade/practitioner publications, if externally peer reviewed

Scholarly Engagement (includes, but not limited to):

• Awarded grant proposals (will also count when the work is produced)
• Trade/practitioner publications, if editorially reviewed
• Open-access trade/practitioner works, if quality has been established through an appropriate disciplinary process
• In-house academic publications
• Authorship of text/trade books or book chapters by a recognized publisher
• Open-access trade/text books, if quality has been established through an appropriate disciplinary process
• Textbook support materials
• Case publications, if editorially reviewed
• Development of web-based tools or digital resources
• Invited professional presentation outside GVSU
• Expert testimony
• Conference paper respondent
• Conference proceeding papers (if abstract or summary submitted)
• Published articles in non-academic publications (newspapers, magazines etc.) in order to interpret and/or present research outcomes to the general public
• Presented to a governmental body or policy makers
• Wrote policy papers designed to influence organizations or governments
• Conference presentations (if summary or abstract is submitted for review)
• Book/software/website reviews
• Professionally relevant blog with proof of substantial readership
• Authorship of published annotated bibliographies or webliographies
• Paper presentations in academic or professional venues
• Establishing a lab for a research project
• Literature review
• Data collection (including archival research)
• Sharing or publishing data
• Submitting manuscripts for publication
• Revising manuscripts for publication
• Preparing and submitting grant proposals
• Whitepapers or position papers
• Peer-review activities (including scholarly responses to conference papers) (product disseminated to decision-makers, i.e., editors)

Professional Development (includes, but not limited to):

• Professional certification/licensure
• CPE for maintenance of certification
• Faculty internship
• Attending academic conferences
• Attending scholarly workshops
• Attending exhibitions in one’s discipline
• Progress towards an academic degree
• Participation in departmental research colloquia or seminars

Does Not Count As Scholarship/Creative Activity

• Membership in professional organizations
• Advances teaching effectiveness through professional development (teaching)
• Editorship of journal (service)
• Informal exchanges with peers
• Conference activities (organizing, chairing a session) (service)
• Work referenced by others
• Serving on graduate committees (service)
• Donations of equipment and software (goodness of your heart)
• Privately funded release time
• Contributes to development of curriculum (service)
• Contributes to accreditation processes and reviews (service)
• Executive education activities (teaching)
• Recognition/reward as a teacher (teaching)
• Positive peer assessments of innovations in teaching
• Achieved local, state, regional, national, or international recognition/award as a researcher in an identified area (the work itself counts)
• Improved teaching skills through professional development (teaching)
• Serving on an editorial board for a publisher, journal, or magazine (service)
• Serving as a juror, referee, adjudicator, or curator (service)
• Consulting in one’s discipline (service)
• Mentors junior colleagues in research or scholarship (service)
• Applies technology to teaching and learning appropriately (teaching)
• Leads in shaping educational policy (service)
• Textbook evaluation/review (service)
• Participation in professional working groups, e.g., a standards committee (service)
• Mentors and/or guides junior colleagues on teaching (service)
• Prepared accreditation or other comprehensive program reports (service)
• Collaborates with colleagues as a member of a multidisciplinary teaching group (teaching)
• Presence in citation index or acknowledgement
• Supervising student research projects (teaching)
• Teaching manuals and study guides (teaching)
• Letters to professional journals
• Use of a new tool, product, or new technology and equipment
• Conference participation, e.g., committee, planning, session chair, etc. (service)
• Conducting research in archives and libraries
• Evaluation of curriculum programs (service)
• Positive peer evaluations received for work that advances the profession (the work itself counts)
• Collaborates with others to design teaching and learning activities for a course taught outside the discipline with dissemination (teaching)
• Professional society reports, e.g., proposed standards. (service)