a. Definition and Timing
Tenure at Earlham in its narrow and technical
sense means assured and continuous employment until the age of
retirement without termination except for cause as outlined below.
Historically in American higher education, tenure is a means
to protect academic freedom.
Normally a teaching faculty member will be considered
for tenure during one’s sixth year of full time teaching
at the College. The effect of sabbatical leaves, leaves of absence,
or service in special programs or projects on the timing for
eligibility for tenure consideration will be determined by consultation
between the Academic Dean and the faculty member.
The teaching experience of faculty members who
come to Earlham from other institutions can be taken into account
in determining the date for tenure consideration. Teaching faculty
who come to Earlham from tenured positions at other institutions
will usually be considered for tenure after one full year at
Earlham. The probationary period for teachers with previous experience
will be determined by consultation between the Academic Dean
and the faculty member.
b. Termination for Cause
Termination of a tenured appointment or dismissal
of a teacher prior to the expiration of a term appointment will
be considered by the President, the Student Faculty Affairs Committee,
the Faculty Affairs Committee, and the Board of Trustees of the
College. Termination of tenured appointments may be occasioned
by the inability or refusal of the faculty member to fulfill
his or her regular faculty obligations. Dismissal can be caused
by moral turpitude or academic incompetence. In all cases where
the facts are in dispute, faculty members will have the right
of a hearing and will be informed before the hearing in writing
of the charges against them and will, if they so desire, have
the opportunity to be heard in their own defense by all bodies
that pass judgment on the case. They will be permitted to have
an adviser of their own choosing who may act as counsel. There
will be a full record of the hearing available to the parties
concerned. In the hearing of the charges of incompetence, the
testimony will include that of faculty members from Earlham and/or
other institutions.
Teachers with tenure whose appointments are terminated
for cause may receive their salaries in whole or in part for
at least a year from the date of notification of termination
or dismissal, whether or not they are continued in their duties
at Earlham College. The amount of salary, if any, to be received
from Earlham will be reduced by the amount of income the individual
receives from any new position, which he/she holds during the
year in question.
c. Other Conditions for Termination of Tenure
Other conditions for the abrogation of tenure,
and the processes appropriate to them, are described in sections L and M of
this handbook.
While most faculty are tenured in a department, Earlham
has long fostered and supported interdisciplinary programs, and it
is sometimes important to the strength and stability of a program,
and the professional identities of a faculty member that tenure be
granted specifically in such a program. At the time of the 2001 edition
of this Handbook, the only tenured position in an interdisciplinary
program is in Peace and Global Studies. However, the College may choose
to develop tenured positions around other interdisciplinary programs
in the future. The definitive evidence of the department and/or program
in which a faculty member receives tenure will be the minutes of the
Board of Trustees for the meeting at which tenure is approved.
