Is it important for TT faculty to 'network'?

In the OP of the thread I recently posted asking readers to share any questions they may have about how to flourish on the tenure track to discuss in this new series, a reader asks whether it is important to '[get] to know academics outside your department (is this important? why or why not?).' These are really good questions, and I'm curious to hear what readers think. Here are a few quick thoughts.

Notice, to begin with, that the reader's query is ambiguous between two questions:

1. Whether it is important to get to know academics outside of your department at your university.
2. Whether it is important to get to know academics at other universities (in the profession more broadly).

My sense here is that the answer to (1) is 'Yes and no', and that the answer to (2) is 'It depends on what kind of job you are in and what your priorities are. Let me explain why.

When it comes to question (1), there are some obvious reasons to think it can be important to get to know faculty in other departments at your university. First, getting to know others outside of your department can make for a more enriching experience at your university and enable you to contribute to a good, collegial environment. I've heard about universities where departments operate largely in silos, rarely engaging with each other, and they often sound like really adversarial places to be. Second, getting to know people in other departments can result in unexpected collaborations, such as interdisciplinary research projects or events (such as conferences). Third, administrators and tenure and promotion (T&P) committees can care about service to the university, and when it comes to these things it can be a good idea to have a visible and positive 'profile' at your university. Fourth, university politics are a thing, and when it comes to important collective decisions (such as in faculty senates and other committees), it can be important to know people and cultivate good relationships with them and other members of their department. I'm sure I'm missing a few things here, and to be sure, there can be costs to being too involved outside of your department as well (such as university politics!). Further, I think it is entirely possible to flourish and get tenure while not being so involved in the above ways. But the above are some things that immediately sprung to mind.

In terms of question (2), getting to know people at other universities can be more or less important depending upon your circumstances and priorities. For example, if you are in a tenure-track position at an R1, you will almost certainly need outside letters when you come up for tenure--letters, that is, from well-known or respected academics at other universities to testify in your favor. Although my understanding is that one is not supposed to have 'friends' write these letters, getting to know people in the profession outside of your university can, in fairly obvious ways, get your work to be better known, potentially more engaged with in the literature, and so on--all of which may be helpful in terms of getting good external tenure-letters. On the other hand, if you are not at an R1 and your university does not require (or even allow) external letters in its T&P process, then getting to know people outside of your university may not be important in these regards. In this kind of case, I suspect that how important it is really depends upon your own priorities: do you enjoy getting to know other philosophers? Do you find it enriching and helpful in terms of your own philosophical thought and research? Etc.

Anyway, these are just a few thoughts that occurred to me, and I'm sure that I'm missing things (it's early in the morning!). What do you all think?

Comments

[the missing link]

Marcus
First, I think it is very rewarding to get involved in a university campus when you have a full time job. You will sit on committees with these people anyway. And you may develop rewarding research and teaching relationships. I have. You may even be able to save the humanities!
Second, you are not part of the profession at all if you are not connecting with other people at other campuses. Many of my supports at other universities far away. Some I see only every few years. Some U have never met in person (Indeed, I have collaborated with three people I have never seen in person). But if you are not connected with others, you are not in the profession.

[Daniel]

On (1), I think it probably depends on what things are like at your school. Of course, there are the intellectual benefits, which should exist no matter what; I've really enjoyed co-teaching with faculty in other departments, and more generally getting a feel for how people with a different disciplinary background than mine will approach the same question.

But speaking purely strategically, I think it probably turns on tricky questions about university politics. I teach at an R1, and a friend of mine in a small language department has given me the impression that, to get tenure in a department like that you need to have impressed people in the larger humanities departments. Basically, English professors will see themselves as competent to substantively evaluate the tenure file of somebody in an American studies department who works on Caribbean literature (more generally, of somebody who works on literature written in English), and at least some English professors will be on the tenure committee of any humanist. So if you're a humanist in a small department, it's probably a good idea to network with humanists in other departments.

But, at least here, philosophy is seen as quirky enough that people in other departments often don't really think of themselves as qualified to substantively evaluate our work--of course it depends on the case, and I imagine plenty of classicists would see themselves as competent to evaluate the research of a philosophy who works on ancient philosophy--and more weight is placed on external letters in the tenure process. Is philosophy like that everywhere? Probably not; I imagine department chairs often find themselves having to make the case for philosophy's distinctiveness when presenting tenure cases to university committees.

[Karl]

Definitely get to know academics in departments that have little to do with yours. You need to be able to complain to someone that is outside your circle. You need to be able to ask questions about the university to people who have no interest in making the university look a certain way to you. You need to know people who are on committees that will be your allies. You need as many sources of information about university resources as you can get. People from different departments have very different access and friends than you do. They will be valuable.

[North of the equator]

I am tenured at a teaching-focused institution. (1) is one of the primary drivers of tenure for us. We are allowed only one optional external letter in our tenure portfolio, but are expected to have about 10 internal letters of recommendation from colleagues around the university. It is frowned upon to have too many of these letters from one’s own department. Early on, I adopted a strategy of getting on a lot of committees and making significant contributions to the university. Having letters from established faculty members goes a long way toward tenure. On a side note, faculty meetings and university events are much more enjoyable, since I have gotten to know a variety of colleagues from many disciplines, and it has opened administrative opportunities outside of philosophy.

[Michel]

I would just add that the only thing that keeps me going--in the profession as well as research-wise--is my network. I really like philosophy, and I really enjoy reading it, and attending conferences, and my network is entirely to blame for that!

I don't mean fancy-pants people, although I know plenty of them. I just mean the regular friendly acquaintances I see at several conferences a year, whose social media feeds I follow, whose work I read, etc. They inspire me, and I just enjoy reading their work.

Mine is purely a teaching job (although I publish quite a bit), and the network is certainly not necessary. But it makes my professional life bearable, and so much richer. If it weren't for that, I'd probably feel crushed and bored by my teaching load. It makes my job fun! And for me, that's pretty necessary. I wouldn't stay in a job I hated.