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killian · Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2005 1:27 am Post subject: anyone getting tenured?

anyone gaining tenure with a chinese university these days?

Norman Bethune · Joined: 19 Apr 2004 Posts: 731

Talkdoc · Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 696

As it has been explained to me, tenure is theoretically possible if two conditions are met: 1) The foreign professor has a D-Visa (permanent residency) and 2) He/she is hired as a regular faculty member (no longer under the auspices of the university and provincial foreign affairs offices) which requires: a) approval of the university president; b) recommendation by the university's local party representative; and c) approval by the party chairman in Beijing. Those are a lot of conditions.

Once or if a foreign professor had a D-Visa, a long-term contract would be possible and would serve a similar function as tenure. (One university I worked for back home actually offered 15-year renewable contracts in lieu of formal tenure and it was only unilaterally binding.)

If a foreign professor held an academic rank in the West and works at certain approved public universities for five consecutive years, he is eligible for a D-Visa (this was confirmed by both my local FAO and the deputy director of the provincial Foreign Affairs Office). I know my current university is approved and one could check with the university's FAO to ascertain if the school qualifies.

Doc