On March 26, St. Olaf College’s faculty showed broad support in an informal vote of 171-11 to potentially amend language in the Faculty Handbook that only allows for full-time, non-tenure faculty to be hired up to six years. This vote comes in response to a chronic staffing issue across departments at the College. 

In December, the Faculty Life Committee received 128 responses that totaled up to 37 single-spaced pages by faculty members calling for solutions to resolve what is dubbed as the “Six-Year Rule.” Once the contract reaches its end, departments have found it difficult to renew their contract with the College, leaving them to hire new professors or add additional work to their load. 

While the College welcomed 11 professors to tenure-ship or promotion to full-time hires this semester, departments are still struggling to maintain continuity. According to Associate Professor of Practice in Sociology and Anthropology Marc David, who also heads the Non-Tenure Track Task Force, roughly two to three professors are let go annually by the College.

According to research conducted by the St. Olaf Non-Tenure Track Faculty Task Force, St. Olaf has a high record of non-tenured professors, averaging 82.04% according to  data from the Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment across ten years. 

In a report consisting of data compiled by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) from 2002-2023, the College has the lowest percentage of faculty in the tenure stream by roughly 10%  compared to other colleges of the same population and endowment size such as Bates College or University of Puget Sound.

The straw poll did not immediately eliminate or amend the six year rule. 

“That is the work ahead,” Faculty Life Committee Chair Joanne Quimby said. “Today, this is simply a straw poll to let the administration know if there is broad faculty support to move forward with efforts to replace the six-year rule language.” 

The “Six-Year Rule” suggestion that Quimby posed to faculty is to eliminate the rule and replace it with a renewal multi-year contract for full-time, non-tenure professors in order to help departments meet their respective teaching needs. 

Any changes would require approval from the Presidential Leadership Team and the Board of Regents. President Susan Rundell Singer was present at the faculty meeting, but did not address the straw poll or “Six-Year Rule” in the allotted time for remarks by the president.