The Board of Regents for the Kentucky Community and Technical College system has voted to eliminate tenure for faculty members hired after July 1.

The board voted, 10 to 4, at its meeting on Friday to end tenure for new hires, with proponents of the move arguing that it would save money and offer the system more flexibility in hiring decisions, according to the Courier-Journal, a newspaper in Louisville. About 60 faculty members from community colleges around the state attended the meeting to protest the decision, and some said afterward that they would lobby the state’s legislature to override the board’s decision, the newspaper reported.

The newspaper said opponents of the change argued that it would deter talented professors from applying for jobs in the system and would stifle academic freedom by leaving faculty members vulnerable to dismissal for speaking out.

At the same meeting, the board also voted to stop offering health insurance to the system’s future retirees. —Peter Schmidt