Summary: This memo provides instructions for implementation of COVID-19-related tenure clock extensions for FAS faculty and includes answers to some of the most frequently asked questions on the topic.
To: FAS Non-Tenured Ladder Faculty
Cc: FAS Department and Program Chairs; FAS Chairs’ Assistants, Operations Managers, and Lead Administrators; FAS Steering Committee; FAS Dean’s Office
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the leadership of the FAS, I am pleased to share with you our plans for implementing the tenure policy adjustments described in Provost Strobel’s message of March 21. Below you will find a set of questions and answers that explain the implementation of this policy in the FAS.
I’d like to draw your attention to one overarching principle and one key deadline:
- The overarching principle is that this is an opt-out extension: it will be granted automatically to all eligible faculty, so if you plan to accept the extension, there is nothing you need to do.
- The key deadline is this: if your promotion or tenure review is scheduled for academic year 2020-21 or calendar year 2021, and you would like to decline the extension, the deadline for doing so is May 1, 2020. That is, if you were expecting to be reviewed in academic year 2020-21 or calendar year 2021, and you would like to proceed on the original timeline for a review, you must write to inform your chair and the FAS Dean’s Office at fas.dean@yale.edu by that date. (If you would like to decline the extension for a review scheduled to take place after 2021, please refer to questions 3-4 below.)
If you have questions that remain unanswered after reading the FAQs below, please feel free to reach out to fas.dean@yale.edu.
Warmly,
Tamar, on behalf of the FAS Leadership team
Tamar Szabó Gendler
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy
Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science
Frequently Asked Questions
- I’d like to delay all my future reappointment or promotion reviews by one year. How do I formally accept this extension?
You don’t need to do anything to accept the extension; it will be applied automatically for all eligible faculty. Your Workday record will be updated to reflect this extension by January 1, 2021.
- I have already submitted the final dossier for my review. Am I eligible for the extension?
Your upcoming review must take place as originally scheduled. If this upcoming review is a non-tenure reappointment or promotion review that is ultimately successful, you will then automatically receive an extension to your future appointment, rather than your current appointment.
- How do I decline the extension to my tenure clock?
If your tenure review was originally scheduled for academic year 2020-21 or calendar year 2021, you must write by May 1, 2020, to inform your chair and the FAS Dean’s Office at fas.dean@yale.edu that you wish to proceed with this review on the original timeline.
If your tenure review was originally scheduled for 2021-22 or later, this notification will need to happen at least 18 months before the review would be completed under the original timeline. For example, if your review was scheduled to take place during 2021-22 but is now delayed to 2022-23, you need to alert your chair and the FAS Dean’s Office by January 1, 2021, if you still would like it to proceed during 2021-22.
Your extended appointment will not be shortened in Workday to reflect that you are declining the extension; instead, your review will be considered to have taken place prior to the penultimate year of your appointment, as already permitted by the Faculty Handbook (Section IV.H). Remember that non-tenured faculty who choose to be reviewed for reappointment or promotion before their last year of eligibility may not undergo another review for the same reappointment or promotion if the initial review did not result in a reappointment or promotion.
- Can I retain the original timing for my review for reappointment as assistant professor (or, for promotion to associate professor on term) but still accept the extension to my overall tenure clock, delaying my tenure review by a year?
Yes, this option is available to you. The tenure clock extension will be automatically granted across the board to all eligible faculty regardless of the timing of your non-tenure review(s). You will need to follow the same notification procedure outlined in question 3 to alert your chair and the FAS Dean’s Office that you would like your non-tenure review to proceed as previously scheduled. If that review is successful, any subsequent review(s) will take place one year later than originally scheduled, unless you opt to revert to the original timeline.
- Will this COVID-19 extension affect my eligibility for an extension associated with Teaching Relief for Child-rearing?
No. This extension does not count toward any of the limits on extensions outlined in Section III.F of the Faculty Handbook. It is granted in addition to any extensions you may otherwise qualify for (e.g., due to childbirth, adoption, caregiving, medical disability, public service).
- I have accepted an offer to begin my ladder faculty appointment at Yale on July 1, 2020, or later. Am I eligible for the COVID-19 extension?
Provost Strobel granted this extension on March 21, 2020, and it is currently available only to those faculty who were already on the ladder at Yale on that date. As the long-term impact of the pandemic becomes clearer in the years ahead, we will consider whether the eligibility criteria should be expanded. [Februrary 2021 update: The Provost has expanded the eligibility for this extension to include faculty whose appointments began on or after March 21, 2020 and on or before January 1, 2021.]