Dr. Amy Erica Smith, an assistant professor in the political science department, was recently given tenure and promoted to associate professor, which will go into effect in this July.

As an assistant professor, Smith was expected to work on projects or research that do not take up a long amount of time, as assistant professors need to have many publications to provide when they are considered for promotions.

“There’s a whole bunch of pressure to have lots of publications,” Smith said.

Smith came into Iowa State on the tenure track six years ago in 2016. She has been an assistant professor for the past six years as is normal for those who chose to follow a tenure track. If she had chosen to not follow the tenure track, then she would be known as a lecturer.

“The biggest difference between [assistant and associate professor] is the job security,” Smith said. “You can’t be fired because someone doesn’t like your publication.”

Now that Smith has more freedom with her research she can go more in-depth and take longer between publications.

“The biggest difference is intellectual freedom,” Smith said. “I would rather devote more time to a few projects than a whole bunch.”

Smith plans on doing research on the relationship between religion and views on environmentalism.

She has enjoyed her time in the political science department.

“It’s very supportive and friendly,” Smith said.

Smith plans on expanding her linguistic knowledge as she already knows Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian very well, by learning Arabic.

“I will be investing in long-term skills,” Smith said.