Faculty Handbook
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II. C. TENURE
(Source: Faculty Constitution and Rules of Procedure)
Faculty Constitution: Article IV
Section 3. An academic member of the Faculty on regular appointment shall be notified whether or not he or she has been granted tenure at the end of his or her probationary period. The normal probationary period shall be six years of appointment (either tenure track or visiting) at Reed College at the rank of Assistant Professor of higher. The probationary period must include at least eight semesters of full-time teaching at Reed that have been completed prior to the semester in which CAT tenure evaluation occurs. If at least eight semesters of full-time teaching at Reed have not been completed prior to the semester in which the tenure evaluation is scheduled to occur, the probationary period will be extended-hence the tenure evaluation delayed-so as to permit the completion of the required number of semesters.
A. For faculty who, prior to joining the Reed faculty, have held a full-time teaching appointment at a college or university that awards a baccalaureate or higher degree, the normal probationary period may be reduced by one year, and the full-time teaching requirement reduced by two semesters for each year of prior full-time teaching, except that in no case will a tenure evaluation occur until the faculty member has completed at least four semesters of full-time teaching at Reed.
B. For faculty who have not held a previous full-time teaching appointment at a college or university that awards a baccalaureate or higher degree but who have held, at such a college or university, either one or more previous full-time full-year post-doctoral research appointments or one or more previous full-time full-year appointments involving a combination of teaching and post-doctoral research, the normal probationary period may be reduced by one year and the full-time teaching requirement reduced by two semesters.
C. For faculty who have held a previous full-time teaching appointment at a college or university that awards a baccalaureate or higher degree and have also held either one or more previous full-time full-year post-doctoral research appointments or one or more previous full-time full-year appointments involving a combination of teaching and post-doctoral research, the normal probationary period may be reduced by one year for each year of such full-time appointment, except that in no case will a tenure evaluation occur until the faculty member has completed (1) at least four semesters of full-time teaching at Reed if the previous experience includes two or more years of full-time teaching or (2) at least six semesters of full-time teaching at Reed if the previous experience includes one year of full-time teaching.
D. For faculty who have taught full time on visiting appointments at Reed for two or three years prior to beginning their tenure-track appointments, the normal probationary period of six years may be extended by one year. For faculty who have taught full time on visiting appointments at Reed for four or five years prior to beginning their tenure-track appointments, the normal probationary period of six years may be extended by up to two years.
E. The decision as to whether or not to reduce or extend the probationary period and the full-time teaching requirements in accordance with Sections A, B, C, or D must be communicated by the faculty member to the Dean of the Faculty no later than during the semester immediately following the faculty member's first full evaluation as a tenure-track faculty member.
F. The normal probationary period of six years may be extended by one year for each parental leave that a faculty member requests and receives in accordance with college policy. In such cases, the decision as to whether or not to extend the probationary period must be communicated by the faculty member to the Dean of the Faculty as part of the formal leave request.
Rules of Procedure
Section B-4. Once a Faculty member has acquired academic tenure, the presumption of both the Faculty and the College is for continuation of service from year to year in the absence of written notice to the contrary. The College will provide annually a statement of the salary established for the ensuing year and, as occasion requires, written notice of promotions and of other specific changes of terms, such as approval of leaves.
Section B-7. Normally, academic tenure will apply only to full-time academic members of the Faculty, but it may occasionally be desirable to accord it to personnel having additional employment outside the College. A Faculty member having academic tenure who reduces his or her employment at the College to a continuing part-time basis shall not necessarily lose his or her status of academic tenure as a result. All special cases involving part-time employment shall be accepted or rejected on their individual merits.
Section B-8. An individual on academic tenure will retain such status during official leaves of absence.