English department may reopen Camfield's case

There may still be hope for English Professor Gregg Camfield. In March, Camfield was denied tenure by the School of Arts and Sciences Personnel Committee. While this decision means he has to leave the University by the end of next year, his department may be able to give him another chance. According to English Professor Robert Lucid, the tenured departmental faculty will vote early next fall on the question of Camfield's renomination for tenure. "The group has already authorized a committee to prepare the case for such a renomination," he said. "And over the summer a number of scholars from other institutions will be preparing analyses of Gregg's work." This action comes after the overwhelming support Camfield received from students and faculty as a result of the committee's decision to deny him tenure. The English Undergraduate Advisory Board took immediate action by drafting a petition and talking with SAS Dean Rosemary Stevens about problems with the University's tenure process. Many students who had taken courses with Camfield felt his teaching should have carried more weight in the decision. Camfield's evaluations in the Penn Course Review consistently averaged a 4.0. Lucid added that both student support and outside consultations will be reviewed by the faculty in the fall. It is not uncommon for professors to be renominated by their departments in their seventh year. But renominations are also not always successful. According to statistics provided by SAS Associate Dean Frank Warner, of the 101 assistant professors appointed in the years 1980 to 1987 who were not granted tenure in their sixth year, 46 percent were promoted in their seventh year. Undergraduate English Chairperson Al Filreis said he supports the proposal in this case. "The resubmission process is a difficult and often unsuccessful one," he said. "In this case I think it would be warranted." Filreis added that he thinks it is important to reevaluate Camfield's case. "Gregg Camfield's work as a scholar and teacher merit our closest and most intense evaluation and indeed reexamination," he said. "I'm for it."

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