WPI to put more emphasis on teaching students in new tenure program

Photo | Grant Welker Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester

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Worcester Polytechnic Institute announced on Tuesday it has established a way for full-time teaching faculty to pursue tenure and extended contracts.

The policies, which went into effect on July 1, are slated to impact 128 teaching faculty members.

Tenure options at WPI and other research institutions are typically reserved for faculty who balance teaching, research and service, the school said in its announcement. The new tenure options at the school will provide opportunities for teaching faculty members who will instead be evaluated on the quality and impact of their teaching practice and innovation.

The changes established a new category of tenure-eligible faculty which will be known as assistant, associate and professors of teaching. Another category of full-time faculty who will not be eligible for tenure, but who will be eligible for three-to-five year contracts, will be known as assistant, associate and teaching professors.

All teaching faculty, WPI said, will be allowed to participate in faculty governance and will be given the right of academic freedom.

The changes were adopted by WPI trustees and faculty through a series of votes, following over three years of study and discussion among faculty, administration and trustees, according to the school’s announcement.

“Our dedicated teaching faculty will now have a strong voice in institutional governance, and WPI will have a much stronger commitment to their professional growth and careers,” said WPI President Laurie Leshin, in a statement. “I hope we can be a model for other universities in truly valuing the important contributions of teaching faculty.”

The school said it plans to identify 15 tenure-eligible teaching faculty this summer, and 45 over the next three years.