Tenure. Is it an excuse to sit on your bum, or does it letfaculty members speak their minds? Rules and reasons for tenure andpromotion in academia receive little attention from most students,but they have an impact on the student body.
Tenure provides a guarantee of employment until retirement atacademic institutions. Such guarantees are not in place inprofessions outside of the academic world. After tenure is earned,professors are free to take advantage of their job safety, despitetheir performance. Yet, the tenure-track is an arduous process andhas a special place in higher education.
Some students see tenure as more of an irritation than abenefit.
"I've had plenty of tenured professors who had the attitude 'Idon't care if you pass or fail, I'll still be here,'" saidUniversity of Memphis senior, Kim Wall.
Administration said that this attitude is not part of whattenure is about.
"The purpose of tenure is not to give job security to facultymembers, but to protect the academic freedom of the facultymember," said Provost Ralph Faudree. Academic freedom is thefreedom to study and express ideas without fear of reprisal.
"The object is to protect the free interchange of ideas," hesaid.
Not all the faculty agrees that tenure does what it was intendedto.
"It has not protected intellectual diversity. And that is thegreatest scandal of the modern university," said William Marty,professor of political science.
Tenure originally sought to bring all ideas, especially opposingideas to the table. However, Marty said that conservatives arealmost nonexistent in the academic world. Over time, Democratic andliberal-minded faculty members have dominated the scene becomingwhat Marty refers to as "herds of the like-minded."
Even professors who disagree on the political bent of thefaculty still reach the same ultimate conclusion.
"Most university academics are generally conservative," saidThomas Russell, professor of English. Although he sees academia asconservative, he draws the same conclusion. "Hiring committees lookfor some degree of conformity when they interview tenure-trackcandidates."
Yet, even if faculty agrees that tenure-track politics produceconformity, tenure has positive functions.
Some professors feel tenure allows them to teach moreeffectively.
"Academic freedom is especially necessary for people who have toteach subjects that are contentious and emotionally charged," saidJohn Bensko, a tenured English associate professor. "Even insomething as apparently non-crucial as poetry writing, I'm oftenstuck with telling people things they don't want to hear. Thatsentimental poem they wrote about their grandmother? No matter howdelicate I am about critiquing it, you\'d5d think I was desecratingthe old dear's grave."
The freedom to express ideas is not limited to ability to teachwithout fear of repercussions. Tenured faculty members also havethe freedom to express views contrary to the views of seniorofficials in the administration.
"You can't just speak to the faculty any way you want becausethese people are going to be here tomorrow," said Jim redmond,journalism department chairman. Faculty and administration have toencourage dialogue with the best interests of students and theinstitution in mind, he said.
"The downside is that it protects you from getting fired, so youcan get away with not doing your best," he said.
The tenure process should limit this downside.
Six years of work and close scrutiny advances the dedicated, butare they judged more on merit or on whether they\'d5ve pleasedtheir peers and superiors?
"I know a few conservatives in the profession who try very hardnot to disclose too openly their opinions until they achievetenure," political science professor, Marty said. "But six years isa long time to hide your opinions, isn't it?"
Some professors on the tenure-track answered explicitly. Whenasked about tenure and the politics surrounding it, one assistantprofessor replied, "These are some interesting questions, and Iwish I had tenure so that I could answer them."
Even members of faculty with tenure are still hesitant to incurthe displeasure of the higher ranks.
"Yes, I don't feel as much pressure to please my chair or dean,but if I want merit pay raises, they still have some sway over me,"said Cox, associate professor of earth sciences.
The faculty has four basic levels of appointment and promotion,and only full-time faculty can receive tenure. The levels areinstructor, assistant professor, associate professor and professor.Promotion to associate professor is usually accompanied by tenure.
The faculty is judged on teaching, scholarship and serviceaccording to the Faculty Handbook. Teaching consists of developingthe course, guidance in the subject matter and evaluating thestudents. Scholarship expectations differ in various departmentsbut can range from publishing to painting. Service is applyingexpertise in their subject not only in the university setting butin the community.
These three umbrellas are used to judge candidates on thetenure-track. The standard time limit to submit a dossier fortenure is six years. The department chair and tenure and promotioncommittee perform a mid-tenure review on the third year to evaluatewhether the faculty are on the right path to reach tenure.
"Formal personnel policies for tenure-track faculty that presumesimultaneous productivity in research and teaching often do notadequately reflect the difficulty in achieving such a mix," saidJames Fairweather in his study reported in The Journal of HigherEducation.
All information gathered on a faculty member is included in thedossier for tenure review. This includes student grades, all formerevaluations of the professor, all material that they have publishedor created and all the students\'d5 evaluations from each semester.The professors must defend any questions about any of the materialsand their actions in the six-year period.
This information is appraised by a committee made of departmentmembers. Each department has different specifics and objectivesthat meet university guidelines. The judgment and dossier then goto the chair of the department. The chair reviews both and makes ajudgment. Both appraisals and the review material then go to acollege tenure and promotion committee.
All reviews then go to the college dean who sends all reviews tothe provost. The provost considers the evaluations, but alsoconsiders whether space is available in the department and ifstudent enrollment will support another tenured professor. Theprovost sends the material with his decision to the president whotakes it all to the Tennessee Board of Regents.
The step that is most likely to involve daily politics is in thecommittee of department members. If faculty members are respectedin their own department, they may face fierce opposition fromcolleagues.
Despite the flaws in tenure and promotion, tenure seems to workat least at some level.
"If you mean, does it protect professors from arbitrary displaysof petty vindictiveness within departments, the answer is probablyno. If you mean, does it protect professors who espouse unpopularor heretical points of view, the answer is probably yes," saidEnglish professor Russell.
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