Faculty Tenure Processes Differ Across Schools

After the successful conclusion of the tenure process, every faculty member can proudly call himself or herself a full Harvard professor. During the search, however, much more is required of some candidates than others.

In a university known for decentralization and an "every tub on its own bottom" approach, it is perhaps not surprising that the tenure method varies from school to school.

This disparity is not a new phenomenon. Almost 15 years ago, the Board of Overseers and the Corporation, Harvard's two governing boards, put together a committee to examine the tenure processes at the different schools.

The committee's deliberations were a chance for the schools to "touch base" and establish a least common denominator of open searches for positions, says Eleanor G. Shore, dean for faculty affairs at Harvard Medical School (HMS).

Except for the policy of an open search, which is sometimes waived by the schools, and a final decision by President Neil L. Rudenstine, demands made on candidates during the tenure process vary widely according to school.

Public Scrutiny

In the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), tenure decisions are kept relatively quiet--students often have no idea a candidate has been under consideration until the name of the new Faculty member is announced.

In the Graduate School of Education (GSE), on the other hand, an open meeting is held for the purpose of allowing students to share their views on a specific candidate.

The more public GSE process, many say, means that those seeking tenure at that school must be prepared for scrutiny from the entire academic community, while FAS candidates are evaluated by a small group of their peers.

At the Law School, candidates must receive a two-thirds vote of the full faculty to gain approval.

The Business School also utilizes votes of the full faculty as part of its tenure process, but the vote is non-binding and the decision to forward the application to Rudenstine remains with the dean.

In contrast with the Law and Business Schools, the Kennedy School of Government uses a committee system in which only a small percentage of the faculty must approve the applicant.

Required Material

Each school requires a curriculum vitae (CV) as part of its tenure process, but many schools require candidates to submit additional information about their teaching, community involvement, research and professional references.

For instance, the Business School requests that candidates write a 10-15 page personal statement which "shows the trajectory of their intellectual journey and what their plans for the future are," says Robert H. Hayes, the director of faculty planning. "There's not a set pattern to these [personal statements]."

The Kennedy School asks for a list of people to contact for recommendations in addition to a candidate's CV.

The Medical and Dental Schools ask tenure candidates who have focused on instructing to turn in a self-report detailing their involvement in courses, committees, mentoring activities and professional societies.

While the School of Public Health does not ask the candidates for any materials besides a CV and statement of research activities, the search committee submits a report on citizenship activity in addition to reports on teaching and research.

The Law School also prepares extra materials, including a report on teaching that contains a classroom evaluation written by a tenured faculty member and information from interviews with students in the candidate's classes.

Such evaluations are available because the vast majority of candidates have previously taught there, according to Todd Rakoff, associate dean of the Law School.

"We have a strong tradition that we won't appoint anyone to the faculty who hasn't taught here, because we want to see how they teach with our students," Rakoff says. "We're pretty serious about that."

While applicants at the Law School must go through a comprehensive review of their teaching, wellknown candidates applying at the Kennedy School of Government may not be asked to submit anything about their teaching at all.

Open Searches

Most schools have a tenure method that ignores even the common denominator of the open search.

Open searches are usually characterized by advertisements in national journals and publications. For instance, the Kennedy School of Government specifies that the search committee place an advertisement for the position in The New York Times.

These searches usually result in applications from all over the world, says Gail Keeley, coordinator of academic services for the School of Education.

In closed searches, however, junior faculty looking for a promotion or notable outsiders may not be forced to compete against other applicants at all.

The School of Education's closed search process, known as a "target of opportunity" search, allows the candidate to bypass the normal process of culling names and go straight to a review of their qualifications in committee, as long as the faculty approves it.

The School of Public Health also has a closed search system for internal candidates. Instead of competing against resumes from world experts, those scholars must prove to a committee that they meet standards for tenure in order to become seriously considered as a candidate for tenure.

End Continuity

Although the University gives schools the freedom to establish their own tenure processes, the final step of the tenure process is uniform across the University: the president must give approval.

While Rudenstine rarely vetoes the recommendation of a dean, all schools stress that the final decision is his to make.

"[The dean] goes to President Rudenstine, and gets President Rudenstine's agreement, at which point we have another meeting," Hayes says.

Rudenstine has sat in on the discussions. After all this is over he and Provost [Albert] Carnesale come to the school," he says.

"Partly it's symbolism--the closing of the loop with the president formally agreeing--but partly it's to convey his sense of the standards that we set," Hayes adds.

Tenure at Harvard's various schools

Althougth certain parts of the tenure process are common to all of the University's schools, others vary between them. TENURE Standard Open Search  Secondary Closed Search  Full Faculty Vote  Student Forums/Interviews  Final Decision by Rudenstine Business  X        X Dental  X        X Education  X  X  X  X  X FAS  X  X      X Government  X        X Law  X  X  X  X  X Medical  X        X Public Health  X  X      X