According to the UMN Board of Regents Policy: Faculty Tenure, Section 5.5, a probationary tenure track faculty member may request an extension of maximum period of probationary service for one year at a time with appropriate rationale:
- birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child
- caregiver responsibilities
- personal illness or injury
- reduction in the the percentage of appointment to less than 67% as allowed per Faculty Tenure Policy (Section 5.3 and Section 3.6)
- other (Contact SPH Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA))
Extension requests must be submitted within one year of the event giving rise to the request (e.g., within one year from the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child) and no later than June 30 preceding the academic year in which a final decision would otherwise be made on an appointment with indefinite tenure.
An extension of the probationary period is not a leave. During the extended period, a faculty member continues their teaching, research, and service responsibilities in the unit. The probationary period may be extended for no more than three years total for any combination of the conditions above. Additional extensions may be possible, as allowed by the Provost, if University-wide extenuating circumstances exist (e.g., COVID pandemic).
Faculty should follow the process described below and contact SPH Office of Faculty Affairs at sph-ofa@umn.edu with any questions or for guidance.
Faculty interested in requesting an extension of the probationary period must follow this process:
- Contact SPH OFA to discuss the timeframe of the event giving rise to the extension request and the timeframe to submit the extension request.
- Complete the Extension of Maximum Period of Probationary Service for Tenure-Track Faculty form (UM 1910). (.pdf)
- Obtain the required signatures. Extension Request Digital Signature Instructions
- Submit to OVPFAA (vpfaa@umn.edu) and copy SPH OFA (sph-ofa@umn.edu).
The request for extension of maximum probationary period must be made in writing within one year of the event giving rise to the request and no later than June 30 preceding the academic year in which a final decision would otherwise be made on an appointment with indefinite tenure.
While faculty are on extension:
- no dossier for the continuation of tenure track appointment will be created;
- voting for continuation along tenure track by SPH faculty or APT committee will not take place;
- Dean writes a neutral recommendation for continuation of tenure track appointment and attaches it to the Appraisal of Probationary Faculty (UM Form 12) for signature by tenure track faculty, dean, and the Provost; and the
- tenure track year increases by one year for the extension year and is repeated for the next continuation year
All probationary tenure system faculty who were in year 1 or later during spring semester 2020 were granted a one-year COVID pandemic extension to their probationary clock. New faculty who did not receive the automatic extension may request one using the request form above and selecting the reason ‘Other.’
For those faculty who received that automatic extension, requests for a second extension will take into consideration the extent of disruptions experienced by the individual during 2020 and subsequent years. These requests will be considered on an individual basis.
In both cases, a written rationale for the request must be submitted with the request form. Contact SPH OFA for guidance.
More information available
