Nine professors were granted tenure this spring, after having taught between six and nine years as associate professors on the tenure track.
The professors are Judith Byfield, Walter Simons and Carl Estabrook of the history department, J. Martin Favor of the English department, Amy Hollywood of the religion department, Agnes Lugo-Ortiz of the Spanish and Portuguese department, Geoffrey Nunes of the physics department, Roxana Verona of the French and Italian department and Lindsay Whaley of the classics and linguistics departments.
"I feel very light ... it was on my shoulders," Verona said. "I had so much responsibility. I didn't realize it when I was in the process [of tenure review], but now I feel so good."
She said her receiving tenureship has made Dartmouth feel more like home for her, and she will now start keeping flowers in her office.
Although Verona said she was very happy to receive tenureship, Verona said her plans for the future will not change. She received the Jacobus Family Fellowship in early June and will visit Bucharest to research a book on Romanian literature.
Tenureship "is rewarding after so much work, but it doesn't mean that the work stops. Nothing stops," Verona said.
Simons agreed, saying he does not foresee tenureship as anything that will affect his work.
"I don't think [tenureship] is going to make much of a difference. It gives you a certain peace of mind that you didn't have before, but not any new liberties or powers," he said.
"It's really momentous. It's something you work for a long time, ever since graduate school," Simons added. "It's a big step. It's really something I've been looking forward to for a long time, almost 20 years."
Simons just finished a book and plans to leave Hanover in the fall to conduct research for a new project.
According to Dean of the Faculty Ed Berger, tenureship is usually granted in the sixth year to professors who are placed on the tenure track.
The professor creates a portfolio consisting of a resume, copies of scholarly work, professional references, input from former students and a personal letter.
The department reviews the folder and submits recommendations about the professor's tenureship to the Committee Advisory to the President. The Committee submits a recommendation to the College president, who makes a decision and passes it on to the Board of Trustees for a vote.
Berger said the standards for tenureship were "excellence in teaching and excellence in the scholarship that they do. We want the very best faculty."
