Tenure Timeline
Fall 2009
The University undergoes a reaccreditation review by a team of administrators and faculty members from peer institutions. The review criticizes Brown for having a higher tenure rate than its peers — 87 percent of assistant professors who are nominated for promotion are granted tenured positions.
Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 convenes an ad hoc committee to review tenure and faculty development policies, comprising nine tenured faculty members and two non-voting administrators. The committee is charged with evaluating the University's tenure policies and recommending changes, if deemed necessary.
April 2010
The ad hoc committee to review tenure and faculty development policies releases a report stating that Brown's unusually high proportion of tenured professors "imposes constraints on hiring and restricts opportunities, limits the ability to expand into new and important areas of scholarship (and) reduces the turnover that is vital to intellectual renewal." The committee recommends a number of changes to the tenure process. (See "What are the proposed changes to the tenure process?")
Members of the faculty criticize the report for granting administrators more power over the tenure process — the proposed changes would give the provost a role in determining the nominations for the Tenure, Promotions and Appointments Committee and grant the dean of the faculty final approval of and control over the list of outside reviewers for each tenure candidate. Faculty members also opposed the recommendation that tenure candidates not be able to see the list of external reviewers selected to evaluate their case.
May 2010
Faculty members approve an amended motion altering the Tenure, Promotions and Appointments Committee election procedure and stating that nominations for TPAC will be determined by the Committee on Nominations "after seeking nominations from the Faculty and advice from the Provost." The motion passes 174-115 and is approved by the Corporation.
October 2010
The ad hoc committee to review tenure and faculty development policies presents a motion to the faculty proposing changes to the Faculty Rules and Regulations regarding the tenure process. The faculty votes 113-97-3 to debate and vote on changes to the tenure rules paragraph-by-paragraph, rather than evaluating all the proposed changes as a whole. The motion is then withdrawn, which is "most unexpected," according to President Ruth Simmons. The faculty votes 100-28 to refer the motion to the Faculty Executive Committee — rather than the ad hoc committee that had proposed the initial recommendations — for further consideration as to how the motion could be divided and presented for separate votes at a future meeting.
December 2010
The Faculty Executive Committee presents two motions to the faculty asking for support in changing parts of the tenure review process without proposing specific alterations to the Faculty Rules and Regulations. The faculty votes to approve both motions by large majorities:
Extending the maximum period of time before junior faculty members either receive tenure or dismissal to eight years and altering the dates of the tenure review process
Modifying the external review process so that each tenure candidate is evaluated by eight external reviewers who are selected by the department and approved by the dean of the faculty
February 2010
The Faculty Executive Committee plans to motions before the faculty proposing specific changes to the Faculty Rules and Regulations in accordance with the general modifications to the tenure policy that the faculty approved in December's meeting.
What are the proposed changes to the tenure process?
The ad hoc committee to review tenure and faculty development policies made its initial recommendations in April 2010. Some of these have been modified or discarded after feedback from faculty members. The following changes have been made or are under consideration:
Extending junior faculty contracts so assistant professors can work for up to eight years before receiving either a tenured promotion or dismissal
Increasing the number of outside reviewers required for tenure evaluation
Preventing tenure candidates from seeing the final list of outside reviewers selected to evaluate them
Sending the list of outside reviewers for each tenure candidate to the dean of the faculty for approval
Allowing the provost to give input into nominations for the Tenure, Promotions and Appointments Committee
Strengthening mentoring, support and feedback for junior faculty members by offering increased funds for research and travel, lowering administrative duties for non-tenured professors and providing opportunities to take additional sabbaticals.
By the numbers
682 faculty members
72 percent of all faculty members are tenured
87 percent of assistant professors who are nominated for tenure receive it (as of 2009)
