In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, Amanda writes:
My friend is an academic but not a philosopher. He works in the social sciences. He is finishing up his fourth year as an assistant professor at a large state/regional university. His tenure odds look very promising. However, he applied to a few jobs this year because, (1) he wants to live closer to family, and,(2) he would rather work at a slac, his dream job is an elite slac.
Well, this year of all years, he was offered an interview, and then a job, at a research leaning slac that is a very good school, but not necessarily an elite slac. (it has an acceptance rate of about 30% .) This job is offering a 3/3 load and his current load is 4/4. The pay is about the same.
The "problem" he is having (I know, I know, cry him a river) is that with COVID, he is very hesitant to leave because, (1) for various reasons, his current school and department are in an unusually strong financial position, i.e., there are factors about his school and department that allowed them to manage the COVID crisis better than most. While he doesn't have any reason to believe that this other school is in financial trouble, they lack the special features of security that his current department has. He also is somewhat scared of even negotiating with his current department, insofar as they might (he imagines) be insulted that he isn't grateful for his job at a time like this, and he worries that maybe the administration will look happily upon any opportunity to get rid of a tenure track line. Lastly, he is not sure what his position will be re tenure at the other department. He is tempted to ask for a reduced tenure clock or even a tenured position, but supposing, say, they only give him two years off the tenure clock, what should he do? He is pretty sure that he would decline if they gave him no time toward tenure.
Any advice? He fears that if he takes the job, he will be throwing away too much security at a time where nothing is more valuable than security. On the other hand, if he declines, he risks throwing away a job that is pretty close to, and might be a great stepping stone toward, his dream job.
There has already been a fair amount of discussion in that thread, with a couple of commenters suggesting that it's a personal decision and that Amanda's friend should "ask a more senior person in his own department…who he trusts…for advice." However, I have to say that I'm much less sanguine. I've already seen at least one case in my social media feed of a university that told their faculty 'everything's going to be okay', only to dramatically shift policy immediately after the end of the semester, furloughing faculty and staff, etc. Personally, I'd want to have a clear picture of the relative financial health of the two institutions before making any decision–and I would be very hesitant to leave a place I had good reason to believe to be financially stable over a place I had questions about.
In any case, before accepting a position, I would definitely want an answer to the 'tenure-clock' question, and make sure I get the answer down in writing in an official offer letter.
But these are just my thoughts. What are yours?
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