Tenure Probation Extension Policy

Untenured faculty members may serve no longer than eight years of full-time faculty service or its equivalent in tenurable ranks at Brown University, except that extensions of up to two years may be granted by the Dean of the Faculty (or the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences) for care of a newborn child or a newly adopted young child, or for extraordinary circumstances.

The effect of extending the faculty member's current contract in recognition of either parenting responsibilities or extraordinary circumstances will be to lengthen the probationary by the amount that the contract is extended. In no case may any combination of extensions total more than two years (four academic semesters).

FOR PARENTING OF A NEW CHILD

An untenured, tenure-track faculty member who becomes the parent of a child by birth or adoption during the probationary period for tenure is entitled to an extension of his or her contract by one year. Unless the faculty member requests otherwise, such extensions are automatically awarded by the Dean of the Faculty (or the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences) at the same time as teaching relief for the care of a new child is granted. In any case where an untenured faculty member is the primary caregiver for an infant or newly-adopted child but does not make use of parental teaching relief, notification of the birth or adoption must be made in writing to the Dean of the Faculty (or the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences) in order to result in the extension. Such notification must be submitted to the Dean of the Faculty (or the Dean of the Division of Medicine and Biological Sciences) and to the chair of the department as soon as possible after the birth or adoption of the child but in any case no later than September 1 of the year in which a review for reappointment or promotion to tenure would be required. No extension is ordinarily possible in the final year of an assistant professor's appointment at Brown.

FOR EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES

When faced with extraordinary circumstances, an untenured, regular faculty member may submit to the Dean of the Faculty (or the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences) a request for an extension of the probationary period beyond the normal eight years if there have been reasons beyond the faculty member's control that he or she has been deprived of reasonable opportunity to demonstrate his or her ability and potential as a teacher-scholar before the seventh year when the tenure decision is normally made (e.g., due to a need to care for a seriously ill child or family member, because of a physical disaster affecting research materials, etc.). Such extensions may be granted by the Dean of the Faculty (or the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences), following review and approval by the Tenure, Promotion, and Appointments Committee.

Requests for extensions of the probationary period must be submitted to Dean of the Faculty (or the Dean of the Division of Medicine and Biological Sciences) and to the chair of the department as soon as possible after the extraordinary circumstances justifying such a request have occurred, but in any case no later than September 1 of the year in which a review for reappointment or promotion to tenure would be required. The request should include a detailed description of the circumstances thought to warrant such an exception. The chair of the faculty member's department shall submit a memorandum to the appropriate dean outlining the department's view on the validity of the request. Such requests will be subject to the approval of the Tenure, Promotion, and Appointments Committee and the Dean of the Faculty (or the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences). The Medical School has a separate set of guidelines for hospital-based, full-time faculty in clinical departments.