In recognition of the effects that pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions can have upon the time and energy a woman can devote to her professional responsibilities, and thus on her ability to work at the pace or level expected to achieve tenure, a woman who bears one or more children during her tenure probationary period shall, upon written request to the relevant dean (in the case of the UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint campuses, the relevant provost) be granted an exclusion of one year for each event from the countable years of service that constitute the tenure probationary period to a maximum of two years. The exclusion for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions is automatic on request for dependent care leave, but requests must be made prior to the initiation of the tenure review. See SPG 201.92.
Similarly, the demands of caring for dependents (such as children, including newly adopted children, ill or injured spouses or partners, or aging parents) may seriously affect the time and energy faculty can devote to their professional responsibilities during the tenure probationary period. In recognition of the difficulty of combining an academic career with significant dependent care demands, any faculty member (male or female) in these circumstances may, upon written request to the relevant dean (in the case of the UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint campuses, the provost), be granted an exclusion of two years from the countable years of service that constitute that individual’s tenure probationary period. The two-year exclusion for dependent care responsibility is not automatic. Requests must be made prior to the initiation of the tenure review.
Under these policies, only two years may be excluded from the countable years of service that constitute an individual’s tenure probationary period at the University of Michigan, regardless of the combination of circumstances. See SPG 201.92.
With respect to caring for one or more newly born or adopted children under the dependent care section of this policy, during the year for which the exclusion is requested the faculty member must take significant and sustained care-giving responsibility for the child (or children) as a single parent or, where there are two parents, must take care-giving responsibility that is at least as time-consuming as the care-giving responsibility of the faculty member’s spouse or partner.
A faculty member who benefits from this policy carries a usual range of responsibilities during the time the policy is in effect unless alternative arrangements have been made. Events that occur in the final year of a faculty member’s tenure probationary period may not be the basis for a request under this policy, and all requests under the policy must be made before the date that has been communicated to the faculty member as the date on which the unit will initiate the tenure review. See SPG 201.92.
Specific schools or colleges may have their own policies and programs regarding stopping the tenure clock for childbearing or dependent care, and faculty members are encouraged to contact the dean’s office for additional information on this topic.