Board of Trustees Grants 12 Professors Tenure, Promotes 11 to Full Professors
The Board of Trustees unanimously voted on April 16 to grant 23 faculty members promotions, effective September 1. Both tenure and full positions are seen as major milestones in a professor’s career, with tenured faculty given permanent employment at the university and promotion to full professor recognizing distinguished educators.
To obtain tenure, and with it associate professor status, assistant professors are evaluated annually for their first six years at the university and submit information for a six-month evaluation by the provost and the dean. Promotion from tenure to full professor is “not something achieved by everyone,” according to Interim Provost Arnaa Alcon. “They have been tenured and promoted and are then reviewed for the highest standing.”
The associate professors promoted to full professor were Emmett Buhmann, Dr. Stephen Flood, Miranda Giurleo, Dr. Meghan Healy-Clancy, Dr. Inkyoung Kim, Dr. Michael King, Dr. Samer Lone, Dr. Kevin McGowan, Dr. Gia Renaud, Dr. Melissa Winchel, and Dr. Hui Zhang.
The assistant Professors granted tenure and promoted to associate professor were Dr. Jacquelynne Boivin, Joseph D’Adamo, Dr. Elif Demirbas, Dr. Karen Duseau, Dr. James Feeney, Loren Herren, Dr. Paul Kim, Dr. Margaret Kjelgaard, Dr. Andrew Miller, Tina Mullone, and Dr. Sheena Rancher.
Also granted tenure was Dr. Matthew Patey, who passed away on August 30. In a speech to the Board, Patey’s former department chair, Dr. Karen Richardson, urged for him to posthumously be recognized for his transformative work as an educator and scholar of Adapted Physical Education. She said, “[Patey] believed deeply in his capacity to change the world. And, he changed the world around him. His teaching and research centered on inclusive pedagogy and universal design for learning, always with the goal of ensuring that individuals with disabilities were not only welcomed but ‘truly seen, valued, and included.'” She added that for Patey’s family and colleagues, the posthumous tenure represented, “a lasting acknowledgment that his work, his impact, and his life are part of the fabric of Bridgewater State University.”
