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TENURE.
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Essay Subject:
History & evolution of job security system for professors, pros & cons, academic freedom, alternatives, personal conclusions.... More...
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6 Pages / 1350 Words
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Paper Abstract:
History & evolution of job security system for professors, pros & cons, academic freedom, alternatives, personal conclusions.
Paper Introduction:
TENURE
Tenure for university faculty is increasingly coming under attack. Proponents of tenure argue that it provides academic freedom and represents a trade-off to low salaries paid to faculty; opponents argue that there are other ways to protect academic freedom and that tenure merely protects incompetent and lazy individuals. Like most other institutions, tenure’s moment to be evaluated in the glaring public spotlight has arrived.
Academe’s tenure system came into existence in 1915 when the American Association of University Professors issued “its first manifesto linking academic freedom and job security” (Lederman & Mooney, 1995, p. A17). The principles were restated in 1940 and included this definition of academic freedom: “Freedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth. Academic freedom in its teach
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A6 ); . The Chronicle of Higher Education, A13. Magner, Denise K. When we look closely at the studies of tenure (among them, Lederman & Mooney, 1995, pp. 1-4; Perley, 1997, p. This phrasing has been used to deny tenure to many professors; maybe it is time to use it to deny tenure to the concept of tenure itself;2. Compounding the question of whether tenure serves itspurpose is the issue of tenure in non-traditional disciplines (art,industrial design, music, etc.). A17). Available:http://www.chronicle.com/che-data/articles.dir. A university shouldbe no less democratic than the society it serves. What tenure really means. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A22. 194 statement of principles on academic freedom and tenure, with 197 interpretive comments. A22; Lederman & Mooney, 1995, p.A17; Mooney, 1995, p. Traditional tenure with a more extensive post-tenure peer evaluation process than the one most professors must engage in for year-end raises and promotions (Keig & Waggoner, 1995, pp. A48). (1998, June 26). While universities aretrying to decide how to evaluate flutists, actors, designers, and others,highly qualified persons are being denied tenure, or so goes the argument(Lederman, 1995, p. And what aboutthose unlucky souls whose grants did not come in time for their review, orwhose articles were not published in a sufficient number of journals, orwhose research did not produce results in time? A-14) and graduate students. A48; Wilson, 1998, p. A13; Magner, 1999, p. Faculty unions move toorganize growing ranks of part-time professors. 1). and faculty members "who lack tenure and have a narrower set of responsibilities," which creates "alternative ranks that respect the nature of the work faculty are doing without creating second-class status" (Wilson, 1998, p. Waiting for talented scholarsto reach their potential. (1999). B6); . A14; Latif, 1998, p. Their potential not fullyrealized in time for tenure, they may receive a second chance, and thenagain, they may not (Lederman & Mooney, 1995, p. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A6 .Available: http://www.chronicle.com/che-data/articles.dir. A48; Magrath, 1997, p. In support of theresearch function of universities and, therefore, of professors, John O.Riedl, dean of Ohio State's Mansfield campus argues, "If a person does notkeep up with his field and goes brain-dead on me, he's not going to be muchof a teacher" (Lederman & Mooney, 1975, p. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.ED278924). Available: http://www.chronicle.com/weekly. Universities are subject to many of the same influences that affectsociety at large, not the least of which are the performance-based andbottom-line assessment designs that have influenced the way business doesbusiness: The public is looking at performance and wondering why professorsdeserve to be a special group of workers protected by the life-longemployment agreement known as tenure; and university and collegeadministrators are looking at the bottom line and wondering how they willrespond to consumer-driven education and the effects of a volatile economy(Wilson, 1998, p. Faculty evaluation: Its purposes andeffectiveness. A12); (Magner, 1998, p. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A14. For the following reasons I suggest modifying traditionaltenure:1. 2); or refused as an act ofdiscrimination (Leatherman, 1999, p. To this end, universities hire accomplished professionals in the fields of business, industry, design, etc., who may not have Ph.Ds and cannot obtain tenure, and are, therefore, relegated to second-class status. A6 ). The Chronicle of Higher Education,A14. Can they opt for a contract instead of tenure? It also gives rise to the question, is the weeding-out aspect oftenure, which was supposed to result in a top-notch faculty of achievers,actually performing its function or driving away excellent and qualifiedinstructors? The Chronicle of Higher Education, B6. Ipropose creating a diverse faculty: professors with traditional tenure, butwho must engage in a post-tenure peer evaluation that stresses teachingskills and interpersonal skills; non-tenured instructors who opt out of thetenure track, but nonetheless serve with the academic freedom, jobsecurity, and dignity provided by long-term contracts; and professionalswith short-term contracts who provide special expertise and can meet thechanging and disparate needs of a consumer-driven educational system. A22). Report urges post-tenurereviews for professors and more pay for part-timers. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A12.Available: http://www.chronicle.com/che-data/articles.dir. (1995, April 15). (1998, May 15). It goes on to say that tenure is: "A means to certain ends; specifically: (1) freedom of teaching and research and of extramural activities, and (2) a sufficient degree of economic security to make the profession attractive to men and women of ability. A1 ; Neal, 1998, pp. Arguments abound on both sides of the issue. If we accept the premise that universities and colleges areroiling pots of creativity, research, and publishing, all in the bestinterests of students and society, then we might be tempted to concludethat protecting a professor's right to choose what s/he will research,write, or speak about; the means by which s/he will conduct the research;and the funding s/he will obtain in order to perform the research are ofparamount concern and that tenure protects those rights. The most hotly debatedalternatives include: . Lifting thecloak of secrecy from tenure. Lederman, Douglas, & Mooney, Carolyn J. Available:http://www.chronicle.com/data/articles.dir. The Chronicle of HigherEducation, A12. Like most other institutions, tenure'smoment to be evaluated in the glaring public spotlight has arrived. This gives rise to the question, "Is that part of tenure that protectsor represents lifelong job security essential to protect the free-speechcomponent?" (Magrath, 1997, p. 1-7), which tell us who gets it, who does not, and why, and the discrimination cases filed by faculty (and won), we find that tenure does not live up to its potential. A realistic alternative totraditional tenure. 1). Available:http://www.chronicle.com/weekly. (1998, December 4). Available: http://www.chronicle.com/che-data/articles.dir. (1998, June 12). chapter comments, "It's as if you're grading on acurve, and now that you have all honors students, you're still giving thesame percentage of failing grades" (Lederman & Mooney, 1995, p. At branch campuses, teachingmatters more. How do you evaluate industrialdesigners? TheChronicle of Higher Education, B1 . Only if a contract isan available option. A48); or traditional tenure that allows for "speedier termination for incompetence or salary reduction for diminished performance" (Magrath, 1997, p. The Chronicle of HigherEducation, A14. It may be that the truth is somewhere in between and as an articlepublished by the American Association for Higher Education points out, "theprofessorate has not effectively articulated the social meaning of tenure-the protection of the university as a place where inconvenient questionscan be asked, and not as a job protection for a specially sheltered statusgroup" (Rice, as quoted in Magrath, 1997). (1998, February 27). Leatherman, Courtney. One could argue thatresearch results do not make a good teacher, good teaching skills make agood teacher. (1995, March). 2; Lederman, 1995, p. Perley, James E. A14). The changing needs of society, and of students in particular, have produced a clamoring for opportunities to acquire practical skills and for relevance in education. Available: http://ericae.net/db/edo/ED378924.htm. Mooney, Carolyn J. Available: http://www.chronicle.com/weekly. (1988). Tenure has been called a"smokescreen" (Magner, 1998, p. Eliminating tenure withoutdestroying academic freedom. Leatherman, Courtney. Onecould reasonably ask, What purpose does this serve? ED3 88 ).Available: http://ericae.net/db/edo/ED3 88 .htm. A48). Leatherman, Courtney. The issue is complicated and the outcomesfrequently frustrating: "You've got people on this committee at theuniversity level looking at a specialty they know very little about, tryingto compare it to a model they know about...the process becomes notsatisfying" (Kaufman, as quoted in Lederman, 1995). $12.7-million judgment intenure case leaves many academic experts stunned. A17). Neal, John E. (1995, April 14). Available: http://www.chronicle.com/che-data/articles.dir. Then there are the professionals from business and industry whosecareers have not been in academe, but whose credentials are, presumably,impeccable or else they would not have been employed by the university.Should they be offered tenure or a long-term contract? 1-4;); Leatherman, 1998, p. Given the rigorous standards for achieving tenure, an officerof a state A.A.U.P. While some are pushing for the total elimination of tenure, most areproposing alternatives or modifications. Unionizing, which is particularly attractive to part-time and adjunct faculty (Leatherman, 1998, p. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A14. Contracts replace the tenure trackfor a growing number of professors. Furthermore, with its emphasis on original research and publishing, tenure does not stress high quality teaching skills, yet students pay tuition to be taught and to be provided with learning opportunities, not to endure mediocre teaching. (1995, April 14). Freedom and economic security, hence, tenure, are indispensable to the success of an institution in fulfilling its obligations to its students and to society" (194 Statement, 197 , p. A12; Perley, 1997, p. TENURE Tenure for university faculty is increasingly coming under attack.Proponents of tenure argue that it provides academic freedom and representsa trade-off to low salaries paid to faculty; opponents argue that there areother ways to protect academic freedom and that tenure merely protectsincompetent and lazy individuals. Peter. A14), referring to its ability to shroudthe issue of job security: "There isn't a president I've talked to--off therecord--who believes that tenure is needed today for academic freedom"(Rheinfrank, as quoted in Magner, 1998). Goddard College allowsfaculty to unionize. ERICClearinghouse on Higher Education. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research andImprovement. Available:http://www.chronicle.com/che-data/articles.dir. Lederman, Douglas. Available:http://www.chronicle.com/data/articles.dir. A22; Mooney, 1995, p. (1998, October 23). Eliminating tenure completely and replacing it with long-term contracts that expressly and explicitly protect free-speech (Magrath, 1997, p. A12) or citeinstances when tenure was denied to otherwise qualified individuals exactlybecause of the nature of their research or their political opinions(Gillespie, 1998, p. Those who argue that tenure should not be tampered with because itdefends academic freedom need look no further than the situation faced byformer Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders: She was "almost denied the right toreturn to her tenured medical-school position because of comments she madeas Surgeon General about such forbidden topics as masturbation, condoms,and the decriminalization of drugs" (Perley, 1997, p. A21); or denied as a"disciplinary mechanism used to weed out from the university those withdisparate views" (Gillespie, 1998, p. REFERENCES Gillespie, Nick. The argumentis tidily summarized as "academic freedom and tenureare inseparable because you can't be free if you're afraid of losing yourjob" (Perley, 1997, p. (1998, June 26). AAUP offers guidance on post-tenure reviews. Collaborativepeer review: The role of faculty in improving college teaching. Available: http://www.chronicle.com/weekly. Available:http://www.chronicle.com/data/articles.dir. Those who argue that tenure is unnecessary in order to protectacademic freedom either reference the First Amendment and maintain that itprotects free speech (Perley, 1997, p. Though tenure was not meant to protect incompetent or lazy teachers, it seems to do just that and anyone who has attended college (or high school) has experienced more than one mediocre tenured teacher; . Tenure will be harder to get,experts say, but it won't disappear. Magrath, C. (1995, April 14). A17; Mooney, 1995, p.A21). Wilson, Robin. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. If we do notaccept that premise, and instead, argue that universities are supposed toeducate students and professors should be facilitators of learning, thenresearch takes a secondary seat and tenure becomes the method by whichuntalented or uninspiring teachers can be provided with a life-time incomefor being mediocre. (1997, April 4). These models support the contention that "tenure was created to protect academic freedom, not to guarantee continuing employment for chronically poorly performing faculty" ("Facing Change", as quoted in Magner, 1999); . A12; Schneider, 1998, p. Schneider, Alison. Magner, Denise K. (1999, January 22). Latif, Louis. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A17.Available: http://www.chronicle.com/data/articles.dir. And,quite frankly, if graduate students and adjunct faculty want to unionize toprotect working conditions, that is the American way. Theprinciples were restated in 194 and included this definition of academicfreedom: "Freedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth.Academic freedom in its teaching aspect is fundamental for the protectionof the rights of the teacher in teaching and of the student to freedom inlearning" (194 Statement, 197 , p. Academe's tenure system came into existence in 1915 when the AmericanAssociation of University Professors issued "its first manifesto linkingacademic freedom and job security" (Lederman & Mooney, 1995, p. A17). In my opinion, pure and unadulterated tenure needs to be modified. The Chronicle of Higher Education.Available: http://www.chronicle.com/data/indepth.dir/labor.dir/aaup.htm. A6 ). (1997, February 28). Not only are today's universities roiling pots of creativity,research, and publishing, they are also roiling pots of dissatisfaction andresentment. Mooney, Carolyn J. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A21.Available: http://www.chronicle.com/data/articles.dir. Keig, Larry, & Waggoner, Michael D. A mix of teachers that includes "a core faculty who have tenure and have accepted responsibility for the greater good of the whole"... Tenure remains vital to academicfreedom. A6 ). The Chronicle of Higher Education, A22. (1999, February 5). The Chronicle ofHigher Education, A1 .
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