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[zookers]

I have recently seen an ad for an external chair search that is advertised as open rank, but tenure-track.  If the hire is not granted tenure off the bat, I would think this would be a major handicap.  Does anyone have an opinion on this, or experiences they could share?  How common is it to hire chairs without tenure?

[sciencephd]

Not common in my world.  Probably institution dependent.

[aandsdean]

I went in as an external chair w/o tenure (institutional policy), but got max credit towards it.  Applied for tenure my second year and got it, no problem.

I didn't like it that much, but the 86% raise softened the blow.

Seriously, it wasn't a problem, but I'd certainly want to take the temperature of the place very carefully before taking such a job.

(BTW, I now don't have tenure and am not tenurable as faculty in my current VPAA position, though I hold faculty rank.)

[sinatra]

This practice is quite common throughout the South. I'm not entirely sure why, but I have seen literally dozens of chair positions in the Southern U.S. that offer full professor rank to chairs, but withhold tenure for up to three years. Personally, I'd stay away from them because a lack of tenure can sometimes tie your hands significantly, especially if the department you are hoping to chair is dysfunctional. But as aandsdean suggested, it's really an individual institution thing. If the salary was an 86% boost and the faculty were remotely normal, I'd probably have few qualms about taking the offer, too.

[oatmeal]

I believe it is a bad practice to hire an external chair with no tenure. My sense is that it would put off some applicants and narrow the pool. A chair normally is at least an Associate or Full Professor, so one would assume they gained tenure at another institution if they are an external candidate. Obviously from some of the posts on here, it appears that people took such a position with no tenure and things worked out well (we probably will not hear much from those where it did not work out).

[anthroid]

I would never apply for such a position.  A chair has major responsibilities and needs the protection of tenure.  I took my chair's position after having been tenured elsewhere, and I expected (and was provided) tenure at the place I chaired.  Expecting someone from the outside to come into a chair's position without tenure speaks volumes about the institution.  I wouldn't even consider applying.