Stopping the Tenure Clock

• A one-year probationary period extension shall be 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 had 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.
• Requests must be made within one year of the "qualifying event." 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.
  

Section 2.8.2.1 of the Faculty Handbook: Stopping the Tenure Clock

A one-year probationary period extension shall be 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 had 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 have been also granted a period of modified duties (see section 2.15.9) or unless other arrangements have been made.

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. Exceptions to these limitations may be approved by the provost. Probationary period extensions described in this policy are also available to faculty members on the continued appointment track.

Requests for a probationary period extension should be submitted in writing to the department head. (A form is available on the provost’s web site.) Approval shall be automatic for new parents. Documentation of medical reasons (other than childbirth/adoption) will be required prior to approval; documentation of other extenuating circumstance may also be required. Approval by the head, 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 has received 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 has been 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 timeframe for each subsequent review and reappointment during the probationary period. For example, an extension granted prior to the fourth year review and reappointment would typically delay that review by one year.

For more information, see the complete Faculty Handbook.