Students who think professors can't understand the stress of the college application process should ask their teachers what they went through to be hired at Tufts. The evaluation process, both for the initial hire and for tenure, is extensive: There are interviews and essays, recommendations and personal statements. And only after a careful, lengthy review, is the final decision made.
At Tufts, any department looking to fill a position must first obtain permission from the faculty dean to search for applicants. Once permission has been granted, the department can then proceed in its candidate search. The outreach period lasts between two and six months, during which time departments place advertisements in mainstream journals and newspapers, as well on the Internet.
The period of reviewing applications then begins, and a preliminary list of candidates is formed with all applicants that have made the first cut. That list - the demographics of the original applicant pool - must be submitted to the faculty dean and Affirmative Action Officer Margery Davies, who oversees the hiring of professors to ensure the University does not exclude certain demographic or minority groups.
"If [a department's] pool is half women but no women made it to the preliminary list, the sheet of statistics shows that, and we might then engage in a conversation with the department about why no women made it past the first cut or why no people of color made it past the first cut," Davies said.
The department next makes its second cut, after which the remaining candidates are interviewed by faculty members, which can last up to a full day. The process involves giving seminars, meeting with people from the department in both formal and social settings, and having a meeting with the faculty dean. After all interviews have been conducted, the department decides which candidate it wants to hire - but only after meeting with Davies and the faculty dean.
"The bottom line is there are a lot of checkpoints where the department has to get approval from the administration to keep going," Davies said.
Tenure
As nervous as first-time instructors seeking employment may be, the process is no less taxing for experienced instructors seeking a higher position. Throw in tenure, and things get even more interesting.Teaching, scholarship, and service are the three criteria on which Tufts bases its tenure decision. Professors beginning the tenure process are first offered a contract for a period of two years, after which there is a "second-year review," in which the department examines the instructor's performance and decides whether or not to offer a second two-year contract. After that period, another review is undertaken.
"The fourth year review tends to be a somewhat more thorough-going review in which really this is getting close to the time in which the person is going to come up for tenure. If they are making really good progress towards tenure and everything seems on track and good then they will be told that," Davies said.
A candidate for tenure may need to produce more than just a reputable teaching record. In some departments, tenure depends on whether or not a professor has published a book, articles, or reviews in a journal, or has received a substantial grant. It is becoming increasingly difficult to receive tenure if these or other substantive works have not been formally recognized.
The sixth year is traditionally the tenure review year. A faculty member up for tenure prepares a dossier of his or her accomplishments in teaching, service, and scholarship, as well as an essay on career goals. After considering the materials, the department votes on whether to recommend the candidate and sends an evaluation to the faculty dean.
"It is a very, very, very thorough-going review. It is not some kind of rubber stamp," Davies said.
The Tenure and Promotion Committee, which includes members from all departments, is a faculty committee that reviews all tenure cases. When the committee completes its work, it votes on whether the candidate should receive tenure. Once committee members have completed their evaluation, the decision goes to the faculty deans and then on up the academic hierarchy - from the deans right up to the president and finally to the University's trustees.
"There are a lot of people who have been involved in thinking about whether or not this faculty member should be granted tenure. Even if it is yes all along, the person doesn't actually get tenure until the trustees say yes," Davies said.
Before receiving tenure, a faculty member's rank is always given as assistant professor. Once tenure has been granted, however, one automatically becomes an associate professor. The ladder from associate to full professor is no smaller than those preceding it.
"Not all associate professors are promoted to full professors. This again is a whole series of recommendations that are exactly like the steps for the tenure decision," Davies said. "That's the top. There is no top above that."
