Policy Regarding Participation in Personnel Decisions
View guidelines regarding eligibility to vote in matters regarding promotion and tenure, including the required status of committee members.
Find procedures relating to faculty promotions, the tenure process, and participation in personnel decisions. Faculty should consult the Faculty Handbook for a complete description of their rights and responsibilities
Learn about the tenure process, including procedures for both continuing faculty promotions and outside appointments.
See ProceduresView guidelines regarding eligibility to vote in matters regarding promotion and tenure, including the required status of committee members.
Review the Faculty Appeals Panel Guidelines that govern faculty appeals of a denial of tenure, promotion or reappointment.
Northwestern will permit faculty members to request extensions of their probationary period in cases where circumstances have arisen to interfere substantially with the research and/or other projects the faculty member intends to submit as part of his or her tenure review. Such circumstances may include parental responsibilities, personal or family emergencies, or problems beyond the faculty member's control.
In March of 2020, in response to the unprecedented disruption to higher education caused by the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, Northwestern University provided an automatic one-year extension to the probationary period (the “tenure clock”) of any current tenure-track faculty whose tenure review had not yet begun.