Dear colleague,
Our unions approached the administration in March 2025 with concerns about the impact of federal government actions resulting in a suspension or cancellation of grants. Though there were (and continue to be) many areas of concern related to these unprecedented federal funding disruptions, one immediate issue for faculty in a probationary period for tenure was what the disruptions would mean for their records leading up to a tenure review.
As a result of meetings with the administration, our unions reached an agreement with the university that provides faculty in a probationary period as of September 1, 2025, whose research was significantly impacted by a suspension or cancellation of funding during Spring 2025 and/or the 2025–26 academic year, with the option of excluding AY 2025–26 from their probationary period. In other words, impacted tenure-track faculty will be able to take an additional year before going up for tenure. Faculty will be required to demonstrate disruption through documentation, including from the funding source(s).
To request an exclusion, faculty will need to complete and submit a form no later than February 1, 2026. Additional information on submitting the form will be distributed by the Office of University Labor Relations soon. Note that the form also provides an option for faculty to request that external evaluators take into account the impact of funding disruptions on scholarship, teaching, and/or service during Spring 2025 and/or the 2025–26 academic year. Requests for the exclusion and/or notice to external evaluators require the review and approval of the Chair, Dean/Director, and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs (no later than April 1, 2026). Approvals cannot be unreasonably denied.
If an exclusion is granted, the term of appointment will be automatically extended. These exclusions are separate from and in addition to exclusions otherwise granted (e.g., for COVID or leave-related exclusions). Note also that the agreement provides an opportunity to withdraw the request if the faculty member later determines that an exclusion isn’t desired (these requests must be made no later than March 1 of the year in which the faculty member is to be evaluated for tenure).
If an exclusion and/or request related to external evaluators is of interest to you, please review the agreement and request form carefully and ask any questions you may have now. Your questions can be directed to aaup@rutgersaaup.org or to the Office of University Labor Relations at oulr@oulr.rutgers.edu.
We know there is more work to be done in protecting faculty and our university from the onslaught of harmful actions taken by the federal government. All of us in our unions remain committed to the fight to protect higher education and our university. Please contact us at aaup@rutgersaaup.org to join the fight to protect our research and ensure that our essential grant-funded work continues.
In solidarity,
Rebecca Givan, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Dr. Catherine Monteleone, President, AAUP-BHSNJ