Faculty & Staff
Contingent & Non-Tenure-Track Faculty
Roughly a third of Porter’s instructional staff teach on renewable contracts rather than the tenure track — here is what that distinction actually determines.
The two tracks
Tenure-track faculty go through a probationary period, a tenure review, and (if successful) an indefinite appointment reviewable only for cause. Non-tenure-track faculty — called senior lecturers, instructional academic staff, or clinical faculty depending on the college — work on renewable contracts, typically one to three years at a time, without a tenure review built into the timeline.
What contract length actually buys
A longer contract (Porter offers up to three-year rolling contracts for instructional staff after an initial probationary run of one-year contracts) means fewer renewal cycles to worry about, not a different job description. Non-tenure-track faculty teach the same range of courses as tenure-track colleagues in most departments and serve on curriculum committees; they are not typically expected to carry the same research-output load a tenure case requires.
Review and renewal
Contract renewal runs on a set review cycle — a department chair evaluates teaching (student evaluations, peer observation, and any advising or committee work) before recommending renewal, non-renewal, or promotion to a longer contract band. A non-renewal decision is expected to include a stated reason and comes with enough lead time to search for other work; it is not treated as equivalent to a for-cause termination.
Where this shows up for students
A syllabus does not distinguish tenure-track from non-tenure-track instructors, and it should not change how a course is chosen. The distinction mostly matters for students curious about a faculty member’s job security or considering an academic career themselves — see the academic vs. industry decision for that broader conversation.