The college has welcomed 11 faculty members to the tenure track this fall.

Some are new to Guilford; others have switched from previous, non-tenure-track positions here at the college.

The 11 include Damon Akins, Kathryn Bowers, Julie Burke, Deena Burris, Sherry Giles, Naadiya Hasan, Barbara Lawrence, Darryl Samsell, Caryl Schunk, Kathryn Shields, and Gail Webster.

Tenure-track means that a faculty person has entered a six-year probationary period. At the end of it, if that person is granted tenure, he or she is essentially guaranteed a position for life.

Guilford has 135 full-time faculty and 95 of them are on the tenure-track. Of the 95 there are 47 tenured professors and 48 are untenured.

Tenure-track faculty are normally hired through a national search. An academic department with an opening will review applications received from throughout the country and often abroad. They interview candidates, usually at a national convention, and then submit to the dean a small list of finalists. Usually three are invited to campus for a day and a half of interview activities.

Students spend time with the tenure candidates and help to interview them. Some of the candidates teach a class. The students fill out evaluations, which are looked at and help with the final decision.

“The application process is very challenging and I take it very seriously . having many eyes looking at the same work helps,” said Adrienne Israel, vice president and academic dean.

“80 percent of the (top) candidates in the list are hired and the list must contain diverse ethnicity,” said President Kent Chabotar.

The advantage of the tenure system is that it promotes academic freedom. Tenured faculty cannot be fired for expressing unpopular views.

“Tenure was started to let faculty and students speak their mind,” said Chabotar.

Being accepted into the tenure-track helps to create a secure job position for the six-year probationary period.

“Getting a tenure-track position shows that the college is willing to support the person and position over the long-term” said Burke, assistant professor of education studies.

Being chosen for the tenure track gives faculty members the ability to focus on their aspirations and on experimenting. It is also a distinction that brings pride.

“I’m sure there were a lot of applications, so I was really pleased and honored,” said Webster, assistant professor of chemistry.

The six-year tenure probationary period includes thorough reviews in the second, fourth, and sixth years.

The four criteria in these reviews are teaching, advising, scholarship, and service. Teaching and advising are the main components.

The reviews are conducted by the Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC), a group of tenured professors drawn from each of the five divisions of the college: arts, business and policy studies, humanities, natural science and mathematics, and social science,

For each review, the faculty member submits a self-evaluation. The FAC collects a large amount of other material: letters of recommendation as well as other evaluative data, including all of the faculty member’s teaching evaluations since the last review.

Israel knows how stressful tenure reviews can be since she once went through the process herself.

“I know how hard it is and I am trying to relieve stress, hence the detailed check list I have created for teachers to follow when they are undergoing a review. I also have meetings with the teachers,” said Israel.

At many schools the faculty members need to show published work, but Guilford focuses on teaching first, although they do expect faculty members to engage in scholarship.

“(At Guilford) faculty members’ work does not have to appear in print, but they need to be active,” said Israel.

“The institution needs proof that faculty is actually staying up to date in their field and teaching,” said Burke.

Thus professors on the tenure track create new goals beyond the duty of teaching. Burke has been working on a paper that she hopes to get published in an academic journal. Webster is busy with working on an important and relevant community assignment.

The tenure program is designed to help prepare professors for years of teaching at Guilford. After each review is completed, the FAC gives the faculty member a detailed letter identifying strengths and weaknesses.

The most important review is the sixth-year, or “tenure” review, which determines whether a professor is a good fit for Guilford. When the professors are coming up for tenure, Israel visits their classes.

If a professor is denied tenure as a result of this final review, he or she must leave Guilford at the end of the following year. Teachers who are denied tenure do have the chance to take their case to an appeal board.

There are two main reasons a professor may not get tenure. One is if he or she has not completed a terminal degree (for example, either a Ph.D. or a Masters of Fine Arts). The other is if the FAC judges the professor to have not met the standards that the college has set in the four criteria areas.

“Protests and accusations occur from negative reviews . I try to listen to every ones’ point of view . and I rethink everything over and over again,” said Israel.

“No matter what you decide people are going to be ticked off,” said Chabotar. He advised that people “judge after knowing the process.”

The tenure review process is currently being evaluated by a special ad hoc committee formed by the clerks committee, the faculty’s most important governance committee. The Ad Hoc committee is composed of volunteer tenure and tenure-track professors who are checking to see how the tenure-track is performing and also to compare notes with other schools.