To the Editor:
We are writing to clarify the situation with regard to the consideration of associate professors for review to full professor. Currently, Brown has no written policy that gives a specific timeframe for when that review should occur (not a 12-year policy, as The Herald reported).
In contrast to her peers, Brown has a large percentage of associate professors who have been in rank for double digit years and who have never been brought forward by their departments for review for promotion to full. The lack of a written statement about when a promotion to full review should occur is in stark contrast to our peer institutions. The goals behind the TPAC proposal to provide an explicit timeframe for a promotion to full professor review are to encourage senior faculty to mentor their younger colleagues, to bring us in line with our peer institutions, and to give recently tenured faculty hope of professional advancement. We agree with the eloquent comment by President Simmons that Brown is in effect punishing its long-standing tenured associate professors who would long ago have been considered for promotion elsewhere. We hope that the Faculty will vote in April to remedy this appalling injustice.
Ruth ColwillFaculty Executive Committee Chair
James DreierFaculty Executive Committee Vice Chair
Ann DillFaculty Executive Committee Past-ChairMarch 5
