Process for Tenure Upon Hire

Faculty and Professional Staff Handbook »

As a result of amendments on January 13, 2014 to New Jersey State law Section 3 of P.L. 1973, c.163 (C.18A:60-8), a state university may hire a new faculty member, or administrator with concurrent faculty appointment, with tenure upon appointment. This distinction will apply only to full-time faculty members or administrators with concurrent faculty status and an official start date on or after September 1, 2014, and who had previously achieved tenure at a regionally-accredited four-year institution of higher education. The number of such hires with tenure will be limited by law to 15% of the total number of new, full-time, tenure-track faculty hired at the institution in the prior academic year, or one faculty member, whichever is greater.

At William Paterson University, the process for offering tenure upon hire will be as follows:

1. As part of the staffing decision process and prior to commencing searches for a specific academic year, the Provost, following consultation with the Deans (who in turn will have consulted with department chairs) will review all approved faculty searches for the upcoming academic year to determine which, if any, will be designated as an “immediate tenure eligible” position. For administrative searches where there will be a concurrent faculty appointment, the decision to designate the search as “immediate tenure eligible” will be made by the President following consultation with relevant Cabinet members and other administrators.
2. Upon approval from the President or his/her designee, the Provost will designate the approved new hire faculty position or combined faculty/administrative position as “immediate tenure eligible.”
3. As part of the search process, the position designated as “immediate tenure eligible” will be advertised as such. Candidates will be notified of the conditions that need to be met to be eligible for tenure upon hire.
4. If the “immediate tenure eligible” position is for a combined faculty/administrative position, during the on-campus interview process finalists for this position will be scheduled for a one-hour interview with the academic department in which the administrator would have a concurrent faculty appointment. Prior to that interview, the department would have access to the c.v. of the finalist.
5. Upon completion of the search and selection of the new hire, the Provost or his/her designee will consult with the Department Chair of the department in which the faculty member will be hired (in the case of combined faculty/administrative position, this will be the department in which the concurrent academic appointment will be made).  The Department Chair will consult with her/his department in accordance with existing departmental by-laws and will have one week to supply the Provost or her/his designee with a written recommendation for immediate tenure.  The Provost or her/his designee must consider the recommendation of the Department Chair but is not bound by it. The written recommendation of the Department Chair must accompany any recommendation for immediate tenure made by the President or her/his designee to the Board but the failure of the Department Chair to make such a recommendation shall not preclude the completion of the process to recommend tenure upon hire.
6. Following consultation with the department, the Provost will recommend to the President whether or not tenure upon hire should be granted to the new hire. The ultimate decision to grant tenure upon hire will rest with the Board of Trustees.