Number of Tenure Applicants Rises

Author: Samuel Wilson

The Board of Trustees is considering an unusually large number of professors for tenure this year. The term tenure is short for "Associate Professor without limit of tenure," which means the professor's appointment at Middlebury College is permanent. The College will not, however, release any information on the identities of the candidates.
"We regard that information as private," said Robert Schine, dean of the faculty and Curt C. & Else Silberman Professor in Jewish Studies.
This year, the number of tenure candidates is higher than usual. This is because professors become eligible for tenure seven years after appointment at the College. However, some professors may become eligible earlier if they have prior teaching experience. During the mid-1990's, the College expanded its faculty, and this year is the top year of tenure candidates from that period. The administration expects that after this year, the number of professors up for tenure will recede.
At the end of the academic year, President John McCardell will announce who has received the promotion. The Board of Trustees will inform McCardell of their decision after a series of recommendations from other groups. An elected group of faculty on the Promotions Committee of the Council on Reviews advises the trustees.
"That committee makes its judgment on the basis a thorough review of a professor's accomplishments, and recommends a candidate to the president only if it is persuaded that he or she is an excellent teacher, a recognized scholar or artist, and has a record of service to the College that bespeaks commitment to Middlebury and to the purposes of a liberal arts college," Schine said.
To determine all this, the members of the Committee will visit classes of all of the candidates and read all of the evaluations submitted by his or her students. They will ask the advice of other members of the College faculty and scholars in the candidate's field at other institutions.
This committee will also consult alumni who have worked with the candidate as well as the Student Advisory Committee. The Promotions Committee will also read all of the publications by the professor in question.
Schine emphasized that "The scrutiny is thorough and comprehensive."
In selecting which candidates will receive tenure, the College seeks only those extremely well-qualified educators who will inspire their students with a life-long desire to learn and grow both academically and otherwise. The candidates must present a strong example through their own lives of dedicated and talented teaching and scholarship or artistic creation.
"We want to have confidence in our decisions, decisions that are enduring and stand to benefit generations of students," Schine said.
The College grants tenure in order to bestow more academic freedom upon a professor.
He or she may present any opinion and teach any subject without fear of losing his or her job.
It is a reciprocal relationship. The College then guarantees job security in exchange for excellence.
Once a professor receives tenure, the promotion is permanent and the he or she can only lose it through special circumstances.
Every ten years the Reappointments Committee will evaluate the professor's time spent teaching. In this review, the professor will be evaluated teaching, scholarship and service.