What goes in a tenure file?

[Submissions for tenure]

What goes in a standard tenure file for a top 20 department? 

The tenure process has never really been explained to me and I haven't found any good resources on it.

My specific question is do all my publications go in? Even those that aren't that great?

Thanks,
wondering

[hope this helps]

Almost every college looks at research, teaching, and service. However, the definition of successfully meeting tenure standards, and the weight given to each criteria, varies dramatically by college type. Many R1 schools demand 15 or more pubs in good journals, my BA in Sociology program requires three articles in any sort of journal, and community colleges often see book reviews and conferences as adequate. Grants are crucial to some universities, irrelevant to others. Having great student evaluations of teaching matters in some place and is almost irrelevant in others.

When assistant professors get hired their department often gives them a document on the criteria for tenure. Some of these documents are very clear in their expectations, many are pretty vague. Make sure you acquire a printed version of these guidelines when you start a tenure track gig, they are your contract with the university. If possible, try to befriend a trusty tenured professor because they can give you clues about the best ways to get tenure at that particular college.

[chasingtenure]

At my small liberal arts college the whole process seems much like making a scrapbook. They want stuff like the nice "you changed my worldview" and "you were the best" emails students send you, copies of student work, posters for events I've planned etc. I need to include publications and info about grants too but was definitely not prepared by my graduate school experience for documenting the stuff that really seems to matter here.

[Shoebox]

When I was pretenure, my chair told me to start a "shoebox." Anytime anyone sent a note or email or anything complimentary, throw it in and them forget about it. When you are ready, you can piece these things together into a trajectory of improving teaching, mentorship, service (journal editors send nice notes sometimes too), etc. The important part about tenure that isn't obvious from the pretenure side is that it's as much about trajectory as total volume of accomplishments. The school is betting on you continuing to do the things they value and they want to see that you have been building experience in these rather than cramming in the last year before your file goes in.