How (not) to get tenure at Colby College

During the 2004-2005 academic year I was denied tenure at Colby. The initial denial was the beginning of an odyssey for me that has been simultaneously depressing, frustrating, baffling, and absurd. Among other possibilities, this set of web pages is designed to:

  • Provide people with information about my case.
  • Stimulate a discussion about the woeful condition of the tenure procedures at Colby.
  • Give future tenure candidates a "negative example" to examine, because they can use all the information they can get, and such information is unfortunately not forthcoming, in general.

If you have any questions, comments, information, or material you would like to give me (or include on this web site), or if you just want to contact me about any of this, please do. The best way to reach me is by email at rjones@soartech.com.

Updates

Occasional updates to this web site (last update: April 18, 2008)

Material on this web site

  • Background information on my case, together with an overview of the fundamental problems with Colby's implementation of the tenure system
  • A description of the primary issues that are troubling about my own tenure case
  • My comments on what appears to be a pattern of opacity, inconsistency, and complacency on the parts of Colby's administration and faculty, when it comes to addressing concerns about Colby's tenure procedures.
  • A case study: Steps in the tenure process at Colby, together with my tenure materials at each step.
    • Here you can see my various performance reviews, teaching materials and evaluations, tenure dossier materials, etc.
  • A list of the people involved in various parts of my tenure case
  • Results from a survey of the understandings (and misunderstandings) about tenure evaluation criteria among a sampling of Colby faculty.
  • Recommendations for possible ways to fix the tenure process at Colby.
  • Potential strategies for getting tenure at Colby
    • Take these with many grains of salt. They are based primarily on my own case and are certainly colored by my own biased and disenchanted perspective.
  • Some thoughts on how to proceed if your tenure case is denied.
    • Once again, I offer a caveat. These thoughts are also based primarily on my own case, biases, and emotions.
  • A bit of (somewhat bitter) satire considering what a Colby course syllabus might look like if Colby faculty treated students the way they treat tenure candidates.

Randolph M. Jones