At McMaster University, the academic clock usually begins on July 1, on or after your appointment start date.

If your appointment letter from the president shows a start date of July 1, then this date is also your Academic Start Date
If your appointment letter from the president shows a start date that is not July 1, then your Academic Start Date is the following July 1
If you are converting from a contractually limited appointment (CLA) to a tenure track, teaching track or special position, and have negotiated that you receive credit for your time as a CLA, your academic start date will be modified to reflect this credit

Once set, your academic start date does not change. You can, however, manipulate the academic clock to shorten or lengthen the time before mandatory review for tenure/CAWAR/promotion.

If you have had an academic appointment at another institution or extensive post-doctoral work or other relevant professional experience, you can negotiate that you receive academic credit for your prior experience. This will be noted in your preliminary letter of offer and confirmed in your appointment letter from the president. This will reduce the amount of time you will need to wait before being reviewed for tenure, CAWAR or promotion. This credit does not shorten the length of time you have to obtain tenure, CAWAR, Permanence or promotion.

Section VI of Policy SPS C4 – Pregnancy and Parental Leaves Policy for Faculty and MUFA Librarians (PDF) allows for faculty members who have or are eligible to take a parental leave in connection with the birth or adoption of a child to have academic decisions (i.e., tenure, CAWAR or Permanence reviews) delayed for one year. As a result of your leave, a one-year deferral will automatically be applied to upcoming academic reviews. This extension to your academic eligibility will be noted in your academic record.

Should you wish to not use this deferral of your academic review, you must contact your department chair in writing, during the leave period. Once your non-deferral request is received by your department chair, it will be forwarded to the dean, and will subsequently be confirmed in writing via a letter from the president. This non-deferral is not considered to be accepted by you until you sign and return the president’s letter.

All faculty members are expected to meet with their Department Chair (or delegate) at least annually to discuss their performance over the past year and their expected contributions over the upcoming year. Prior to this meeting, you will be provided with an annual career review form to complete, which outlines your activities over the past year and notes any concerns you would like to address. As well, you will submit an updated copy of your CV.

Each department has their own version of the annual career review form and your chair or department manager will be able to provide a copy to you.

During the meeting, you will go over this form with your chair (or delegate) and discuss your Mutually Agreed Responsibilities (R4) (PDF) for the upcoming year. After the meeting, the chair (or delegate) will provide you with a letter that summarizes the discussion and will ask that you sign back the letter and the updated R4 form.

For non-clinical faculty, this information will be used to determine your par increment and Career Progress/Merit Plan (CP/M) award. For more information about the Faculty CP/M plan, please contact our office.