3/30/2020 - Extension of Reappointment and Tenure Deadlines

To: Caltech Faculty
From: Thomas F. Rosenbaum, President; David A. Tirrell, Provost; Stephen L. Mayo, Division Chair, Biology and Biological Engineering; Dennis A. Dougherty, Division Chair, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; Guruswami Ravichandran, Division Chair, Engineering and Applied Science; John P. Grotzinger, Division Chair, Geological and Planetary Sciences; Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, Division Chair, The Humanities and Social Sciences; Fiona A. Harrison, Division Chair, Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy

We have asked all of you to take extraordinary steps to limit the spread of COVID-19. Among the most wrenching consequences of those steps has been the disruption of your research programs, caused by the abrupt ramp-down of our laboratory operations, reduced access to campus and colleagues, our transition to online instruction, and other public health measures. For many of you, these changes come with new and time-consuming responsibilities at home. We have been encouraged by your prompt and effective response to these difficult circumstances.

We recognize that disruption of research may be especially stressful for those of you who are "on the tenure clock." To mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on progress toward tenure for our early-career faculty, Caltech will extend by one year the deadlines for reappointment and tenure decisions for all faculty members whose reviews have not already begun. Reviews are underway for faculty members whose current appointments end on or before October 15, 2021. Those review packages have not been affected by recent events, so those reviews will continue and the corresponding deadlines will not be changed. For faculty members who are currently under review for reappointment, the reappointment deadline will not be changed, but the deadline for the tenure decision will be extended. All extensions will be automatic, but may be declined in writing at the faculty member's discretion.

Further details will be provided in personal letters to our assistant professors, and should be discussed with the division chairs. For now, we wanted to inform you of the general policy, which has the unanimous support of the Institute Academic Council.