Tenure Delay

Birth or Adoption of a Child

Tenure-track faculty who become parents through birth or adoption of a child while employed at the University are automatically granted a tenure delay. A second automatic extension for the birth or adoption of another child will also be granted. To notify the department and other administrators, the faculty member logs in to the Tenure Delay website and indicates on the Tenure Delay Submission Form that he or she seeks a tenure delay due to childbirth or adoption. The appropriate administrators receive an automatic notification of the tenure delay.

Personal or Professional Circumstances

Tenure-track faculty may also request an extension of time for tenure consideration, based on personal or professional circumstances which are other than parenthood. Such a request must be approved by the faculty member's department chair and dean, as well as by the Provost.

• Personal circumstances are individual or family situations (other than the birth of a child) that substantially impede normal professional development of the faculty member.
• Professional circumstances are individual, departmental, or facility related situations that are beyond the control of the faculty member and substantially impede normal professional development of the faculty member. See the Frequently Asked Questions for a few examples.

The procedures for requesting a tenure delay follow. (Note that the request should be made no later than the end of the Spring semester prior to the year in which the individual is slated to be reviewed.)

1. The tenure-track faculty member should initiate the request by discussing the request with his/her Chair. The Chair's support is necessary to continue with the Tenure Delay Request process. The faculty member then logs in to the Tenure Delay website and indicates on the Submission Form that he or she seeks a tenure delay due to personal or professional circumstances.
2. To approve the request, the Chair logs in to the Tenure Delay website, indicates his or her support of the request, and provides detail and documentation as necessary.
3. The Dean must also approve the request, by logging in to the Tenure Delay website, indicating approval, and providing detail and documentation as necessary.
   Note that along with their approvals, both Chair and Dean should indicate their strong support of the candidate's request for a tenure delay, including additional detail and documentation as appropriate or necessary.
4. After a decision is reached by the Provost, the Office of Faculty Affairs will notify the Provost, Dean, Chair, faculty member and the Office of Personnel and Budget, which will make the actual change of tenure review year in the University's database systems.