On February 28 a group of faculty members received notice that they had been granted tenure. Shubhra Sharma, Vandana Shiva Assistant Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, was not among them.
As current departmental chair for Gender and Women’s Studies and one of only two full time GWS department faculty teaching this year, Sharma’s tenure denial came as a surprise to many in the campus community. “I was concerned and confused when I heard the decision,” explained Henry Sinnock ’16, co-chair of the GWS Student Advisory Board and GWS major. He continued, “I joined the Student Advisory Board last year because Professor Sharma really made it into a force in the GWS department where it previously hadn’t been. I don’t know what will happen to the work she has done if she leaves.”
Alia Roth ’14 echoed Sinnock’s concern and affection for Sharma ,stating, “Working with Professor Sharma throughout this past semester, attending countless lectures, and reading her literature on The Feminist Wire I was in complete shock when I heard that she had been denied tenure.”
At Connecticut College, tenure is granted on the basis of “excellence in teaching, scholarship and service,” rather subjective guidelines that leave a great deal of room for interpretation. This may explain why Sharma, who was told last year that she was on track for tenure and moving in the right direction, could encounter such a different response just 12 months later.
Three main bodies are responsible for granting tenure; The Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure Committee (CAPT), composed of five tenured faculty members, Roger Brooks, Dean of the Faculty, and President Katherine Bergeron.
Records of tenure, particularly of recent denials and appeals, are confidential material to virtually everyone except the office of the Dean of the Faculty, yet anecdotal accounts from professors suggest that tenure denials have been rare in recent years. “I think this is due to better mentoring and more honest appraisals,” opined Dr. Joan Chrisler, Class of ‘43 Professor of Psychology. Chrisler recounted that in the past there have been times when a department decides they cannot recommend a candidate for tenure. In such a case, they typically advise the individuals not to go up for tenure review, and those individuals instead leave the College when their contracts expire. “To deny tenure to an individual recommended by the department is very unusual,” she said.
In the weeks following the initial denial students rallied around Sharma, collecting over 300 signatures and some 70 letters of support from students, alumni, parents, faculty and staff. An appeal was filed with the CAPT committee to reverse the decision, but on April 9th Professor Sharma received a letter from President Bergeron stating that the appeal was overruled and tenure denial would not be reversed.
Students have refused to accept this as the end of the fight for Professor Sharma. A sizable group of students, spearheaded by members of the GWS department, Women’s Center executive board, and others who have worked in a close, cross-disciplinary manner with Sharma have held several meetings over the past few weeks to plan a course of action. “I looked into the archives to try and find other cases like Sharma’s but there doesn’t seem to be a precedent for this situation,” said Kelley Kobak ’14, a GWS major currently in class with Professor Sharma.
Despite this, the group is committed to fighting for Sharma’s contract to be extended or to look into the possibility for her to come up for tenure again at a later date. Several of the students met with President Bergeron on April 23 to discuss their concerns. The group plans to meet with Dean Brooks in the following weeks.
At the Student Government Association (SGA) meeting on Thursday, April 24, the assembly voted to award Professor Sharma the John S. King Excellence in Teaching Award, “given to a professor whom the student body has deemed to have shown an extraordinary commitment to students… by promoting student participation and involvement both inside and outside the classroom.”
Advocating for Sharma at SGA, Molly Longstreth ’15 declared, “Professor Sharma demonstrates the core values that Connecticut College strives to instill in its students: integrity, academics rigor, and compassion…through her teaching and mentorship, she has shown us what it means to be ethical, feminist, and activist individuals.”
The loss of such a powerful and beloved member of the faculty had brought about many concerns about the future of the GWS department and the effect on the larger campus community. “The work that Professor Sharma has done in the classroom contributes the overall story that we are trying to tell on this campus and the culture shift surrounding gender-based issues and power-based personal violence,” said Darcie Folsom, Director of Sexual Violence Prevention and Advocacy. In a note to the appeal committee, Colleen Bunn, former Residential Area Coordinator and advisor to the Women’s Center, wrote, “By denying Professor Sharma tenure, the College is again demonstrating that they do not hold gender education as a priority on campus.”
“By creating a dynamic where the students in the GWS department do not have consistent mentors and academic leaders, the academic work in the department goes down,” lamented Bunn. This is a particularly troubling observation given that the GWS department was identified earlier in the semester, during the curriculum reVision week, as a department that exemplified inclusive excellence and a commitment to cross-disciplinary academics.
Aneeka Kalia ’16, co-chair of the GWS Student Advisory Board, voiced similar concerns about the larger implications of Sharma’s tenure denial. “Ideally, I think the best way to keep the momentum that the department has going right now is to keep [Professor Sharma] here and in the leadership position that she is in,” said Kalia. “I can see that momentum getting derailed for a number of years if she would have to leave.” •
