Thank you for working with faculty members in your unit to address the impact of the COVID pandemic on their scholarly progress. Your compassion, attention, and advice makes an enormous difference in their ability to navigate the crisis. We are especially grateful for the time you have spent with pre-tenure faculty members.
Over 60% of our junior colleagues applied for and received a tenure rollback through the COVID-19 process. This is a reminder that the deadline for junior faculty members to apply for a COVID-19 tenure rollback is August 15, 2021. We are extending this application deadline to September 1 to accommodate any faculty member who wish to take advantage of this program. (Note the application has to be requested by September 1, even though the process may take more time to complete.)
Faculty members who miss the deadline but find their scholarship has been negatively affected by COVID may still apply for a rollback, but they will need to use the “normal” process outlined in Provost Communication #16. Faculty members may cite COVID as the justification for a rollback, but will need to provide some additional information about how the pandemic has affected their scholarly progress. Additionally, faculty members who have already received a COVID-19 rollback and wish to apply for a second rollback may do so, but they will also need to use the process outlined in Provost Communication #16. We encourage you to make faculty members in your unit aware of these options.
As we move through the coming year, please continue to communicate with faculty members about the impact of COVID-19. The pandemic may have long-term and potentially hidden effects on our faculty members’ ability to make scholarly progress. It is important that faculty members continue to share with you updates about their research, teaching, and service. These mentoring conversations are important investments in the success of our faculty colleagues and our institution.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Best,
Bill Bernhard
Executive Vice Provost for Academic Affairs