If a new faculty is to be appointed at the rank of associate or full professor with tenure, the tenure review should be conducted as part of the recruitment process as outlined below.

When a potential faculty member holds a tenured rank at a comparable university, the department may recommend an appointment with tenure. The department submits the Search and Selection Summary in workflow for the candidate using the offer letter template which includes language that this appointment is contingent upon a successful tenure decision. 

At the same time, the DEO prepares a tenure dossier comprising these documents:

• Candidate’s CV
• Three letters of recommendation that were submitted with the application. Letters must be from faculty at or above proposed hiring rank.
• Application materials submitted by the candidate (typically personal statements, scholarly work/publications, etc.)
• The vote of the Departmental Consulting Group. This can be provided as part of the search and selection summary if the entire DCG voted on the candidate. 
• The DEO’s recommendation to the Dean, referencing the DCG vote

The Dean consults with the associate deans and then writes their recommendation to the Provost. The Dean will notify the DEO of the Provost’s final decision, and the DEO in turn will notify the candidate in writing. 

For a faculty member first appointed at mid-year, the tenure timetable begins at the start of the next academic year. The DEO must submit an evaluation of teaching during the first semester of appointment and an assessment of communication competence, in accordance with University policy (Operations Manual, III-13).

A faculty member who qualifies for an extended probationary period submits a request for extension to the DEO, who forwards it to the Dean’s Office with their recommendation. The Dean considers the request and forwards it to the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs with a positive or negative recommendation. The Associate Provost make the final determination.

A request for an extended probationary period that reaches the Office of the Provost by July 1 will affect the probationary review conducted during the subsequent academic year. For example, an extension requested in the summer following the second year of the standard six-year probationary period would delay the third-year contract-renewal review by one year.

An extension does not change the normal criteria for a tenurable record, nor does it imply that the faculty member will be held to a standard higher than the one they would have had to meet if the tenure decision had been made in the year when it was originally scheduled. On the other hand, an extension of the probationary period does not guarantee that the faculty member’s contract will be extended through the year in which the tenure decision is due.

Under a directive from the Associate Provost for Faculty and CLAS policy, if a candidate for tenure has received an extension of the tenure-clock, a statement to that effect must be read aloud at the start of the first meeting of the departmental promotion and tenure committee for that candidate and again at the start of the first DCG meeting. The paragraph may be read by the DEO or by the chairs of the respective committees. The currently approved language for that statement is as follows:

• The extension granted is a University policy-based adjustment owing to a specific career-development impediment and the extension neither changes the normal criteria for a tenurable record nor implies that the candidate should be held to a standard higher than the one they would have had to meet if the reappointment or tenure decisions had been made when they were scheduled originally.

Click here for details on the process to request a tenure clock extension, effective February 2025. 

Grounds for extension

New parent responsibilities

Per university policy (Operations Manual, III–22.8): For each minor child (e.g., biological, adopted, stepchild, or by guardianship) added to the family of a probationary faculty member from two years prior to the initial appointment through September 1 of the tenure decision year, and upon relevant notification, the faculty member's probationary period shall be automatically extended twelve months per child (up to two children). Extensions for the addition of more than two children may be considered under the Discretionary Extensions provisions (e)(ii). It is a faculty member's responsibility to notify their DEO, who forwards the request to the Area Associate Dean, of the relevant qualifying event that activates the automatic extension of the faculty member's tenure clock, as described in the Policy Manual. 

Unpaid leave without fringe benefits

The tenure clock may in some cases be delayed when a faculty member takes an approved unpaid leave without fringe benefits for personal or professional reasons.

Temporary impediment

Probationary faculty occasionally have their original tenure timetable extended because of a significant but temporary impediment to the usual pattern of productivity expected of a tenure-track faculty member—for example, on account of serious illness.