Dear Anyone,
I'm a tenured professor of sociology at a liberal arts college in the northeast. Next month, a colleague of mine will come up for tenure review. I respect her as an academic. She publishes regularly in reputable journals and has a book out, with another forthcoming. She's a good teacher too, if her teaching evaluations are any indiction. Still, I'm not sure about giving her tenure. You see, about a year ago, I saw her in a restaurant holding hands with someone I recognized as a current student. Plus, her office is next to mine, and once, when I was at the office late at night, I heard--how should I put this?--"heavy breathing" coming through the walls. She's unmarried and free to do as she pleases in her private life, but our school has a pretty strict sexual code of conduct. I think I may be the only one who knows about her behavior, so if she disgraces herself and the department in the future, I'll feel responsible. Then again, if I cost this bright young academic her job, I'll feel guilty as hell. I'm feeling torn.
Tenure-track Troubles in New England