I think saying that the claim of recursion being a single essential trait 
of human language has no content confuses a few points. 
 
Human language, under Chomsky's view (and I guess Hauser and Fitch, too), 
is regarded as a mental state, part of the human mind, or I-language. 
Recursion is a property of human minds, not necessarily found in (E-)languages. 
 
Thus it is perfectly logical to assert that a language may lack recursion. 
It may still be learned (perhaps badly) by recursion which is in the mind 
of humans beings, but not in the langauge itself.

My College is currently in the process of writing Disciplinary Standards 
for reappointment, tenure and promotion. I have not been able to find 
anywhere in writing what are generally considered reasonable expectations 
for research (conferences and publications) for different types of 
institutions. Specifically, my questions are: 
1. What rate of publication (1 article a year, 2, more? A book?) is 
considered reasonable at a Class I research institution, with a 1/1, 1/2, 
2/2 teaching load of mostly graduate courses? 
2. What rate of publication (1 article a year, 2, more? A book?) is 
considered reasonable at a liberal arts college with a 3/3 or 4/4 teaching 
load of exclusively undergraduate courses, with advising and other 
student-related responsibilities? 
3. Do expectations vary widely depending on the particular subfield of 
linguistics? 
4. What constitutes a normal rejection rate for a first or second tier 
linguistics journal? 
5. Do publications in refereed selected linguistics conference proceedings 
generally carry as much weight as publications in refereed journals? 
 
I would be happy to post a summary of any responses received. Thank you.