Extending the Tenure or Continued Appointment Clock

Information about extending the tenure or continued appointment clock is found in the Faculty Handbook, sections 3.4.2.1 and 4.5.2.1.

The form for requesting an extension of the tenure or continued appointment clock is available here and on the faculty forms page of the provost's website.

From section 3.4.2.1 of 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 for 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 normal responsibilities during the probationary period extension unless they are also granted a period of modified duties or unless other arrangements are made. (See section 3.10, “Modified Duties.”)

Probationary period extensions are granted in one-year increments. A cumulative total of two years is normally the maximum probationary period extension for any combination of reasons. Requests should be made within a year of the qualifying event or extenuating circumstance. The provost may approve exceptions to these limitations.

Requests for a probationary period extension are submitted in writing to the department head or chair. (A form is available on the provost’s website.) 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 or chair, dean, and provost are required for probationary period extensions. The faculty member may appeal denial of the request to the next higher level.

It is very important that all individuals and committees participating in tenure reviews understand that any individual who receives a probationary period extension must be held to the same standard—not a higher or more stringent one—to which other candidates without such an extension are held. This is also true in the case where the candidate’s dossier is considered on the original schedule for review. However, in this instance where an approved extension was granted but not utilized, the tenure review is not considered mandatory and can be conducted again in the subsequent year without penalty. A probationary extension also normally extends the time frame for each subsequent review and reappointment during the probationary period. For example, an extension granted prior to the fourth year review and reappointment typically delays that review by one year.