Tenure For Regular Part-time Members of the Faculty

Members of the Faculty who teach part-time, but not less than half-time, on a regular basis at Amherst College, are eligible for tenure under the same qualitative standards as full-time members of the Faculty. It is intended that a person holding a regular part-time appointment from Amherst College regard that appointment as his or her primary professional obligation.

The appointment procedure for a regular part-time member of the Faculty usually requires three three-year appointments, with a review during the third and sixth years, and with the tenure decision occurring no later than the eighth year of part-time teaching. This schedule applies irrespective of the actual number of courses taught during the aggregate period. In the case of a faculty member who begins part-time teaching at Amherst after a number of years of full-time teaching at Amherst or at another college or university or after regular part-time teaching at another college or university, appropriate adjustments in the timing of appointments may be made at the time of the initial appointment.

The termination of a regular part-time teaching appointment is subject to the usual understandings concerning notice at Amherst College.

Once a favorable decision with regard to tenure for a regular part-time member of the Faculty is made, any subsequent alteration in teaching load will be negotiated by the individual with his or her department and with the Dean of the Faculty and the President. An arrangement to increase from part- to full-time teaching does not involve a qualitative judgment analogous to the tenure decision, but rather depends upon an initiative taken either by the individual or by the department or departments directly concerned, confirmed by the consent of the Dean of the Faculty and the President. A change to full-time teaching on a temporary basis does not presume any permanent adjustment in status from part- to full-time unless this arrangement continues for more than three years.

Should a full-time tenured member of the Faculty wish to negotiate a part-time arrangement on a temporary basis without change to permanent part-time status, he or she may proceed with these negotiations with the department or departments concerned. Final determination of the matter requires the consent of the Dean of the Faculty and the President.

Where one of the considerations in securing part-time teaching is the desire to combine it with regular concurrent activity outside the College, the substantive nature of the activity is appropriate to a regular part-time teaching arrangement. This decision is made by the President.

The presumption is that a regular part-time member of the Faculty will teach part-time throughout the year, rather than alternating full-time one semester with no teaching duties in the next.

Regular part-time members of the Faculty qualify for most benefits and perquisites of full-time faculty members on a prorated basis. These include eligibility for housing, and, on a prorated basis, disability and life insurance, pension plans, health insurance, and death benefit. Regular part-time members of the Faculty qualify for leaves according to the same schedule a full-time Faculty, although their compensation during leaves is on a prorated basis.