What are the barriers to doing SoTL work?
A. Perhaps one of the greatest barriers to doing SoTL work is that it is not always recognized as “legitimate” research in some disciplines. Hence, it does not always “count” in the tenure review process, nor in promotion and merit reviews. This is especially burdensome for non-tenured assistant professors who may be interested in doing SoTL work, but feel that they will not get rewarded for it at tenure/promotion time. Some disciplines are more disposed toward SoTL work than others. If you are interested in doing SoTL work, but are concerned about how it will be received by your department and/or scholarly review committees on campus, you might want to check your university’s tenure/review policies before you embark down this path. For some academics, SoTL research can be their only research program, but for many academics, if one does SoTL research, it is considered “extra” or “peripheral to” the disciplinary research they are expected to produce. Hence, one may have to make decision
