Guidelines for Recommending Faculty for Early Tenure

 

The normal provisional tenure period is seven years, or ten years at the College of Medicine, with the decision being made as a part of the sixth-year, or the ninth-year at the College of Medicine, review. In order to consider individuals for tenure prior to this period, an extremely strong case must be presented. The number of years and achievements beyond the completion of the doctoral degree (or the highest professional degree in the discipline) are key factors in early tenure considerations.

In some instances, there may be unusual or extenuating circumstances that may merit consideration of early tenure. If this is the case, the following procedures should be followed:

 

  • The dean should submit a request and justification in writing to the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs complete with the accompanying documentation, to consider a faculty member for early tenure.
  • Accompanying documentation should include the most current vita of the candidate and significant accomplishments achieved by the candidate that would support an early tenure review. A statement of support from the department head should be included.
  • The Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs will review each request on a case-by-case basis, and consult with the Executive Vice President and Provost. If the decision is to support the request to consider early tenure, the dean will be advised to prepare the case for an early tenure review, without any guarantee that the candidate will receive tenure through an early review. If the decision is not to support the request, the dean will be so advised with reasons for the evaluation.
  • If a candidate is successful in receiving tenure through an early review process, he or she will be notified of the award of tenure at the time that all promotion and tenure decisions are released at the University level. If a candidate is not successful in receiving tenure through an early review process, he or she is not penalized in any way or disadvantaged from the normal tenure review sequence at a later time.