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A: Faculty with concerns about a student are asked to contact Scott Howard (showard@amherst.edu) in the Office of Student Affairs. Scott will make sure that an appropriate individual reaches out to the student.
A: Faculty have been given the option of having teaching evaluations solicited for spring 2020 courses. If tenure-track faculty decide that they want evaluations solicited, they may later decide whether to have the evaluations included in their dossiers for reappointment and tenure. Candidates for reappointment and tenure will not be judged on whether or not they choose to include spring 2020 evaluations in their dossiers. If faculty (including lecturers and resident artists) decide that they want to have evaluations solicited, the following process that is normally used for tenured faculty will be used this semester: course evaluations will be solicited from all students, and once anonymized, will be made available only to the faculty member whose teaching is being evaluated. For courses taught in spring 2020 only, tenure-track faculty will decide if they would like to share these evaluations with their tenured colleagues, and if they would like them to be part of their reappointment and tenure dossiers that will be considered by the Committee of Six. Again, the decision about whether or not to include course evaluations from spring 2020 in reappointment and tenure dossiers will have no bearing on the tenure decision. In addition, tenure-track colleagues may also decide whether they want students whom they taught this spring to be asked to write a retrospective letter about their experience at the time of reappointment or tenure. If the student took a course with the faculty member during another semester, that student will be asked to write a retrospective letter about that course.
A: Given the extraordinary circumstances, the Committee of Six recommended, and the president and provost agreed, that a number of extensions should be offered to current tenure-track faculty at the college. Those who are scheduled to stand for tenure in fall 2020 have been asked to inform their department and the provost, by April 1, 2020, if they wish to extend their tenure clocks by one year. For those who decide to stand for tenure in fall 2020, all deadlines in the tenure process have been extended by one month. This new time frame means that it is possible that tenure decisions will not be made by the traditional deadline of the start of winter break, and that candidates and departments may be informed about tenure decisions early in 2021. Candidates have been asked to discuss with their chairs the deadlines by which departments and the provost's office need materials. The decision about whether or not to extend a tenure clock will have no bearing on tenure decisions.
A: Yes, the Committee of Six recommended, and the president and provost agreed, that the college grant this option. Tenure-track faculty have been asked to inform their departments and the provost, no later than February 1 of the year in which they are now scheduled to stand for tenure, whether they want to extend their tenure clocks by one year. Again, the decision about whether or not to extend a tenure clock will have no bearing on tenure decisions.
A: While the deadlines relating to tenure have been changed for tenure cases in fall 2020, the regular deadlines relating to reappointment and promotion to full professor will remain the same. Those standing for reappointment and promotion in the spring of 2021 will receive information via email this spring.