Request: Denied!

Well, that was unpleasant.

Sorry for going dark for so long.

Last Tuesday our Dean stopped by my office and delivered a punch to the gut. Well, metaphorically anyway. He very apologetically, and also very painfully informed me that my tenure request had been denied.

Well then.

The surprise surpassed the anger. I have been told for years that my tenure was essentially a formality and that my work in the three areas of research, service and teaching were all above the level of the typical faculty member going up for tenure.

When I assembled my tenure file last fall, the department, dean and campus administration approved it in rapid succession. From here it went to the State system and was to be rubber stamped before it reached our system board for approval. This was the level where it was rejected.

Apparently there is a new sheriff in town and my file had one sticking point: it was early. Usually faculty go up for tenure in their sixth year, but due to some fuzzy math, this is technically my fifth year. But I was assured that it was not an issue. Those assurances were wrong. Give it a try next year. Next year it will be a done deal.

I don’t want to get blogged down in my professional failures, but I can’t let this event pass by unmentioned. I will not spend much time discussing this here at Coffeespoons. My prayer is that this will be a momentary setback and not a tectonic shifting of my calling and our lives.

Obviously God works through failures like this. I pray that we will see how God redeems this for his purposes. I am reminded that after all, God is in the Redemption business!