April 1, 2020
Dear Colleagues,
In recognition of these extraordinary circumstances, the University will provide an automatic one-year tenure clock extension to any tenure-line faculty currently in their probationary period, but whose tenure review has not yet begun. This extension is in addition to any extensions a faculty member may have already received, and it will not preclude faculty from receiving future tenure clock extensions for other reasons, such as childbirth. Tenure-line faculty whose third year review has not yet begun will have their third year review delayed by one year. (To be clear, this modification does apply to faculty who are scheduled for their tenure review during the coming academic year, beginning August 1, 2020.) Third year reviews and tenure reviews which have already begun will be completed as scheduled. The Academic Affairs Office will work with each school’s dean’s offices to ensure that faculty tenure clocks are appropriately updated to reflect this extension.
No additional productivity shall be expected from faculty who receive this extension, and nor will faculty enjoy a stronger claim to tenure by virtue of having remained on the faculty beyond the customary probationary period.
Faculty retain the opportunity to request early review for tenure. Additionally, any faculty who wish to opt out of receiving this one-year extension may do so. There will be no modifications to the tenure expectations for faculty choosing this option. Any decision to opt out must be made by May 1, 2020. Note that this does not supersede deadlines set by your school, so, for example, if materials for your review are due April 15, 2020 you must either decide not to opt out of the extension or submit your materials by that date. These decisions will be final in the sense that any adjustments to the tenure clock after May 1, 2020 must be made through the university's standard process for such requests.
Although a one-year extension is being provided at this time, a faculty member may request additional extensions to their tenure clock for reasons related to COVID-19 in the future should it be warranted. Any such requests should be made through the University’s standard process for tenure clock extensions.
More details can be found at the Academic Affairs website (Academic Personnel Policies), and the form to opt out of the extension can be found here (Opt-out form). Please address all questions to provost@tulane.edu .
Robin Forman
