Dear Colleagues,
I hope that this letter finds you safe and well. As I write this, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to affect communities around the world, including ours at the University of Miami.
While life and safety are the paramount concerns, I also recognize the pandemic’s unique impact on tenure-earning faculty members. It has created numerous academic issues with the potential to delay one’s professional and scholarly achievement–delays that can be especially critical for faculty working within the limited timeframe of the probationary period.
Because of this, after consultation with the Deans and the Faculty Senate, I am offering a one-year extension of the pre-tenure probationary period to tenure-track faculty who are, as of Spring 2020, in their probationary period. A limited number of faculty, described below1, are not eligible for this extension.
Understanding that not all eligible faculty may wish to avail themselves of this extension, you will be asked to “opt-in” should you want your tenure clock to be extended by one year. Once an eligible faculty chooses to opt-in, they will automatically be granted a one-year extension to their probationary period.
In order to receive the automatic extension, faculty will be expected to opt-in by August 15, 2020. However, a faculty member who does not request the automatic extension by that date may petition, as prescribed in the Faculty Manual, to have their tenure clock extended at any point until the start of their final probationary year, but prior to any department or school votes taken on their tenure case. If you opt-in but later decide you do not need the additional year, you may request an earlier review following the policy and procedures described in the Faculty Manual.
How do faculty opt-in?
Faculty who wish to opt-in for the one-year extension should send an email request with “Tenure Extension” in the subject line to the Office of Faculty Affairs: facultyaffairs.cg@miami.edu. Each request will be reviewed by the vice provost for faculty affairs who will contact the faculty member within seven days to officially notify them of their revised tenure review date.
If you have any questions regarding your tenure clock or this program, please contact Bill Tallman, director of faculty affairs, at btall@miami.edu, or 305-284-3386.
Our University community has weathered storms in the past, and each time we have come out stronger than before. With your help, we will do it again. Thank you for your continuing excellence, and stay safe.
Sincerely, |
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