Promoting the Australian academic profession

© 2020 Grupo de Investigacion FORCE. All rights reserved. In a context of the casualisation of the workforce, increased technology-mediated teaching, and higher research expectations, the authors explored the changing nature of Australian academic service - that is, service to the university, the community and the profession/discipline. As one element of promotion in universities, academic Service in the higher education sector is ill defined, and poorly described in comparison to the Research and Teaching elements of an academic's role. While the authors saw some evidence of Australian universities paying greater attention to the 'Service' Domain, there remains inconsistent and ambiguous documentation and guidance provided by universities about this Domain. From their review of promotion documentation of 24 percent of Australian universities, the authors identified four key elements which universities could provide to assist academics to develop their promotion applications with respect to their service achievements: descriptions of expected practices in each area of service, and at each academic level; details of evidence that can be used to demonstrate the practices and their impact; case studies which demonstrate the practices, evidence and impact expected at each academic level in the Service Domain; and a definition of Service. As academic work is dramatically altered in consequence of a global epidemic, it is critical to identify specific practical steps institutions can take to assist staff to advance in their careers.