Service is the third pillar of an academic career, alongside research and teaching, yet it is the section candidates most often undersell. Tenure and promotion committees weigh institutional service seriously, so committee memberships, mentoring, and administrative roles deserve deliberate documentation. Listed carelessly, they read as a footnote; framed well, they demonstrate that you carry your share of the institution’s work.
Organise service by level
Group your contributions by scope so a reviewer can see the reach of your involvement. Departmental service sits at one level, institutional or university-wide roles at another, and service to the wider profession at a third. This structure signals not just that you serve, but how far your responsibility extends.
- Departmental: committee memberships, curriculum work, and search committees you sat on.
- Institutional: university senate, cross-faculty panels, and administrative appointments.
- Professional: journal editing, peer review, and society roles beyond your own institution.
State your role and its duration
For each entry, name the committee or role, your position within it, and the years served. A chair carries more weight than a member, and a multi-year commitment more than a single term, so make these distinctions explicit. Where a role produced a concrete outcome, such as a revised curriculum or a successful accreditation, note it briefly.
Distinguish service from administration
Keep genuine service, which is contribution to shared governance, separate from paid administrative appointments where relevant, since committees read them differently. Both belong on the CV, but conflating them can obscure the collegial contribution that promotion cases specifically reward.
For the wider document, our CV guide shows where a service section sits alongside research and teaching. Keep a long academic CV legible with a minimalist template, and assemble the whole record with the CV maker.