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September 28, 2007, 01:47 PM ET
Recovering From a Tenure Denial
In his latest column, David D. Perlmutter, a professor and associate dean for graduate studies and research at the University of Kansas’s school of journalism and mass communications, offers advice on how to land a new academic job after being denied tenure.
Despite popular belief, being denied tenure is usually just a setback, not a career ender, Perlmutter explains. For example, many assistant professors in Ivy League departments are routinely denied tenure, only to resurface in top jobs at Big 12 universities, he writes. If you have a Ph.D. from a well-regarded program, odds are it will be valued by search committees at some liberal-arts colleges or regional state universities regardless of your tenure rejection, he writes.
Perlmutter offers the following keys to recovery:
Focus on the future. Structure your CV to highlight “evidence of forthcoming work or grants or any major confirmation that you are on the upswing.” Mobilize your supporters. “Nothing would help your candidacy more than a letter of support from a senior professor assuring your prospective department that you would be just right for the job,” or, better yet, explaining “how your perceived weaknesses at your old department might be strengths in your new one,” he writes. Stay positive. “Depression, indignation, and bitterness embedded in letters of inquiry or application, or expressed in face-to-face interviews” won’t help your cause, he writes. It’s best not to “dwell on your tenure denial but do not try to cover it up, either. Explain in a sentence or two that you fell short of your goals in your previous job” and then move on, he writes.Categories: Faculty-hiring
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