Dear _____:

In the spring/fall of 200_, you were kind enough to provide a letter of evaluation of Dr. _____, in connection with promotion to untenured Associate Professor. We are very grateful for the assistance you provided at that time. As you may know, the promotion was successful.

As of July 1, 2004, Johns Hopkins has adopted new tenure regulations under which faculty in [Arts and Sciences or in Engineering, depending on which is the relevant school] will ordinarily be granted tenure upon promotion or appointment to the rank of Associate Professor (instead of the rank of Professor, as was the case in the past). One consequence of this change is the need, during a brief transitional period, to re-evaluate individuals who were promoted to Associate Professor without tenure under the old rules but who are now under consideration for tenure under the new rules.

On behalf of the ad hoc committee appointed to consider this case, I am writing to ask for your assistance in assessing whether Dr. _____ should be granted tenure at the present rank of Associate Professor. We are not asking you for a complete reevaluation of the case. Rather, our request is restricted to comments, supplementary to your original letter, that would address specifically the question of the granting of tenure.

I enclose, for your convenience, a copy of your earlier letter, as well as Dr. _____'s current vita. If you would find it helpful to be sent other materials, I would be happy to provide them.

Our committee must report to the Academic Council as soon as possible, and it would help us greatly to have your response at your earliest convenience, and no later than _____. If you choose to send your evaluation by email, we request that you also send us a signed hard copy for the record. Once again, we are very grateful for your help.

Sincerely,
(Chair of Ad Hoc Committee)

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Last updated 15Nov04 by dgips@jhu.edu