Analysis of
Jennifer Tuttle's 2019 Tenure/Promotion Review
Jennifer Tuttle
The CCNY Theatre Department Chairwoman, Professor Jennifer Tuttle, repeatedly dismissed my allegations that The CCNY Tenure/Promotion guidelines were being ignored during tenure/promotion reviews. Her written responses repeatedly stated that she and my colleagues follow the guidelines so there is no need to discuss the matter or to take steps to codify our procedures. In June 2nd 2023 she wrote to me:
"…As I've mentioned in a previous email to you, Tenure and Promotions Guidelines are established by the College, and individual Departments aren't authorized to establish their own criteria. As per the previous email, here are links the governance documents which highlight this…”
I will cite four instances below in which (in spite of her assertions above) Professor Tuttle disregarded the CCNY tenure/promotion guidelines several times in her own 2019 tenure/promotion cv.
THE FIRST INSTANCE
The CCNY tenure/promotion guidelines state that:
"Only articles and books that have been published or accepted for publication should be grouped as follows... If a book is under consideration or under contract with a publisher, relevant supporting documentation must be supplied..."
Professor Tuttle included a film entitled, THE THREE METAMORPHOSES in her Tenure/Promotion cv.
Theatrical stage and film productions are obviously equivalent to the publication of books for other departments. Therefore, like books, films that are submitted for tenure/promotion should have contracted dates when they will be completed, released, and/or distributed.
At the time of her 2019 Tenure/Promotion review, THE THREE METAMORPHOSES was in, "Post Production" and therefore this film was not, "published"/distributed. It should not have been included in her tenure/promotion cv.
THE SECOND INSTANCE
Books: co-authors (if any), indication of the candidate’s role or percentage contribution, title, publisher and date. If a book is under consideration or under contract with a publisher, relevant supporting documentation must be supplied.
Professor Tuttle submitted the the following publication in her 2019 tenure/promotion cv:
In spite of the fact that her book was being released weeks after we deliberated about her tenure/promotion case, the committee was not allowed to see a copy of this text to discern the percentage of Professor Tuttle's contribution to the book.
It was therefore impossible to access the percentage of Tuttle's contributions to this text without ever seeing the book. This craven attempt to obfuscate should not have been tolerated.
THE THIRD INSTANCE
The CCNY Tenure/promotion guidelines state that:
Creative works should include:
Description of works to be evaluated by external reviewers, if appropriate.
Professor Tuttle “describes" in detail the professional directing projects listed in her 2019 tenure/promotion cv. However, she neglects to state the running times for four of her seven productions.
Like Professor Barron before her, she is attempting to hide the fact that 4 out of the 7 productions in her cv, are small-scale, one or two person pieces with running times of only between 30-90 minutes. She withholds this pertinent information because it would diminish the stature of her productions.
I WANT TO DIE BEFORE YOU
One Person Show
Running Time = About 30 Minutes
THE FOURTH INSTANCE
Professor Tuttle includes her production of IMMIGRATION STORIES in her list of the major production that she directed.
IMMIGRATION STORIES was a piece created with Professor Tuttle’s CCNY undergraduate theatre students. It played for one night only at The Producer’s Club ,a low-level performance space in New York City. Once again Tuttle is padding her cv with a low budget/profile production. She does not describe the fact that The Producers club is considered a low cost performance space where young directors presented their work.
Likewise -- work done with your students (even if performed off-campus) should not be included with a candidate's professional directing credits.
SUMMATION
4 Instances in which Tuttle did not abide by the CCNY Tenure/Promotion Guidelines
Keith Lee Grant's
Final Words