Heaton, Caitlyn. (2009). What is Wrong with Tenure?

Tenure is a contract given to professors when they have passed a probationary period of time while teaching. This contract basically states that the professor cannot be fired unless extreme measures have occurred that mean the professor should not teach. These circumstances would usually be of a higher crime level than just misdemeanors.

“At most smaller colleges, a faculty member's eligibility for tenure is determined by first by teaching ability, second by publication record (academic or creative, depending on what the candidate was hired to teach), and third by a combination of departmental service (participation in various faculty committees) and student advising. At larger universities, research is often considered as important as, or even more important than, teaching.” (Jerz, Dennis G. “Tenure—What Is it?” April 19, 2000)

The probationary period is when a teacher is still able to be fired if the Board of Directors doesn’t like the way they teach. This period of time is usually about six to seven years. Once the Board finds the professor worthy of having tenure, they will grant it. Tenure sounds like a perfect idea because it gives job security to professors and to teachers which is what everyone is looking for now in times of recession. But tenure is not perfect and there are major problems going along with it and its impacts on classes and students in colleges across the world today.
The tenure system assumes that professors who have proven themselves those six or seven years are good enough to last 20 or even 30 more. Rewards are a good way to get people to do something but only as long as they keep that reward in mind. Once they reach that goal, what is the motivation for the professor and teacher to keep doing the good job they have been? Professors can’t be fired now that they have tenure so there seems to be no reason for them to keep on doing a good job teaching the students. [There are a few professors in colleges today who are safe in their jobs because of tenure but they don’t even make the minimum changes in teaching methods and other rules that the school itself has made.] A possible repercussion of disconnect between tenure and performance would be that the students who want to be in class, or who must be there, aren’t learning the things they need to. Their professors might not be teaching them in a style they would comprehend and remember. Archaic methods such as lecturing without any input from students can only help them learn so much. The professors who hate change will probably continue doing the same thing they always did, or worse, because they know they have job security. No matter how bad their student’s grades are or how many pass, they still have that job.

In a world full of recessions, job layoffs are pretty common. Everyone is looking for job security so they know they can expect to have money for the next decade or longer. Tenure can actually be a very good thing in this regard. It makes sure professors continue to have a job when, more than likely, they’d otherwise be cut and someone else hired in their place. Tenure is also good for faculty who have proven themselves over years and who continue to prove themselves as good professors. The majority of professors don’t abuse their tenure and try to do the best they can for their students. Those professors deserve to keep their tenure.

There are quite a few ways to possibly solve the issue of tenure and its abuses. Professors can be given a longer time until tenure so that they may continue to work hard over a longer probation period. A cycle of tenures could be another solution in that, every few years, tenure can be renewed. If professors didn’t show growth, they would lose their tenure and could either be fired or put on probation. Along the lines of the renewable tenure is a little escape clause. If professors earn tenure but then don’t continue to follow protocols, follow the school’s methods, or just don’t teach very well because they have suddenly become lazy, they, too, should lose their tenure. If professors are told that if they don’t do their best work to try and help their students to their fullest, and that repercussions would occur then they would more likely work harder for a longer period of time. This would basically solve the problems evolving from tenure and the way it’s abused.