Tenure Clock Extension

As described in the Faculty Handbook, a one-year probationary period extension is automatically granted to either parent (or both if both parents are tenure-track faculty members) in recognition of the demands of caring for a newborn child or a child under five newly placed by adoption or foster care. The request should be made within a year of the child’s arrival in the family.

An extension of the probationary period may also be approved on a discretionary basis for other extenuating non-professional circumstances that have a significant impact on the faculty member’s productivity, such as a serious personal illness or major illness of a member of the immediate family. In rare cases, extraordinary professional circumstances not of the faculty member’s own making may be acceptable justification for a probationary period extension, for example exceptional delays in providing critical equipment, laboratory renovations, or other elements of the committed start-up package essential to establishing a viable research program.

Faculty members who benefit from this policy are expected to fulfill their usual responsibilities during the probationary period extension unless they are also granted a period of modified duties or other arrangements are made.

A probationary period extension is granted in one-year increments. A cumulative total of two years is usually the maximum probationary period extension for any combination of reasons. Requests should be made within a year of the qualifying event (such as the arrival of a child in the family) or extenuating circumstances (such as an illness). The provost may approve exceptions to these limitations.

Requests for a probationary period extension are submitted in writing to the department head, chair, or school director; approval is automatic for new parents. Documentation of medical reasons (other than childbirth or adoption) is required prior to approval; documentation of other extenuating circumstances may also be required. Approvals by the department head, chair, or school director, and dean, and provost are required for probationary period extensions. The faculty member may appeal denial of the request to the next higher level in their organizational reporting structure.