Appendix A: Qualitative Assessment of Professional Growth
Because achievement in professional growth is both quantitative (the minimum number of publications, for example) and qualitative, the department endorses the following guidelines:

• Faculty members are urged to make wise decisions regarding the placement of articles, reviews, or creative material and are encouraged to seek publication in significant, recognized journals in their fields (faculty are thus encouraged to stay familiar with publications in their field and know the relative strengths/merits of the sites in which they publish).
  
• Faculty members should evaluate the credentials of on-line journals in exactly the same way, giving evidence of both their status as refereed journals and a sense of the significance and recognition of that journal in one's field of expertise.
  
• Faculty members should assume responsibility to contextualize their achievement in professional growth by articulating as part of their dossier how, where, and why they have published; that is, rather than having the department agree on a list of certain journals into which one must publish, we allow the faculty members to present their professional growth as a consistent process into which they put careful and thoughtful reflection and to demonstrate knowledge of the significance of their various publications (prioritizing from most competitive and selective [books, refereed articles in tier-one journals, and their creative equivalents] to least [encyclopedia articles or proceedings];see Appendix B and C for a department-approved qualitative scale and creative equivalents to scholarly work.
  
• Faculty members understand that the listed criteria are, as stated, minimum criteria, and as the Faculty Handbook of the University states, more than the absolute minimum may be necessary, dependant on the quality of the work and the fact that achievement is, as the handbook states, "judged in relation to the achievement of those placing themselves in consideration for promotion."
  
• In the case of new hires, prior to offering a candidate the position for which s/he has applied, the Department Chair, in consultation with the faculty status committee and others as necessary, should determine which imminent publications, if any, the candidate may count towards the requirements for tenure and promotion. The candidate should be notified of this determination in writing before accepting the position.

Further, the department offers the following clarifications of issues pertinent solely to our department.

• The conference hosted by West Georgia each year in the fall in Atlanta is not considered for our faculty an international achievement in presentation, but a local one
  
• Articles or creative works in journals edited by faculty in our department have, historically, not been counted as one of the three minimum publications by higher administrative levels (the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Vice-President of Academic Affairs); while they do count as publications beyond the minimum, the purpose of the three minimum articles is to show evidence of recognition in a selective, blind review process.
  
• Teaching, service, and scholarly/creative achievement assessed for the purposes of tenure and promotion will typically consist of a faculty member's activity since the last university-wide review.

Appendix B: Qualitative Scale for Professional Growth Activities
Subject to individual contextualization by the faculty member under review.

I. Publishing
A.Monograph
B.Edited Book (critical essays)
C.Edited Scholarly or Creative Journal
D.Edited Book (primary texts)
E. Textbook
F. Translated Book
G.Tier-One Journal Article or Creative Equivalent
H.Tier-Two Journal Article or Creative Equivalent
I.Chapter in a book / essay, fiction piece, or poem in anthology
J.Guest-Edited Scholarly or Creative Journal
K.Critical bibliography
L.Review Article, Tier-One Journal
M.Review Article, Tier-Two Journal
N.Interview
O.Translation of article/fiction/essay/poem(s) in a Journal
P.Book Review, Tier-One Journal
Q.Book Review, Tier-Two Journal
R.Encyclopedia Entry/Article

II. Presentations
A.Paper or Creative Presentation, National or International Association
B.Paper or Creative Presentation, Regional Association
C.Paper or Creative Presentation, State Association
D.Commentator, National or International Association
E.Commentator, Regional Association
F.Commentator, State Association
G.Panel Chair, National or International Association
H.Panel Chair, Regional Association
I.Panel Chair, State Association

III. Professional Recognition/Awards
A.Grant-supported Seminar or Institute
B.Coordinator, Grant-Supported Seminar or Institute
C.Officer of Professional Organization
D.Service to Professional Organization
E.Garnering of Substantive Scholarly or Creative Award/Fellowship
F.Invited Reader at a Substantive Venue

IV.Service as a Referee
A.Referee, Book manuscript
B.Referee, Journal manuscript
C.Judge for Substantive Scholarly or Creative Award

Appendix C: Creative Equivalencies to Scholarly Achievements
The following alignment of creative-writing achievements with scholarly achievements remains faithful to the "three significant achievements" model.

• One creative book publication by a reputable press correlates to one scholarly monograph
  
• One piece of fiction/creative non-fiction or three poems correlates to one scholarly article in equivalent tier publication