Tenure Track? What Tenure Track?

At Columbia College Chicago we introduced tenure some 15 years ago. The Board of Trustees had to be “educated” then about the importance of tenure and how important it is to the future of our institution. We all now see how tenure has worked towards that end. The number and quality of applicants for teaching here has skyrocketed since then. New colleagues we hire tell us that the tenure track nature of the position was a major factor in their decision to apply. I am not suggesting that this is the only reason. The quality of our programs and potential growth is another major reason. I say this is because very often we have applicants who are already tenured in other institutions. Tenure, besides its many other benefits, will ensure a larger pool of highly qualified applicants. In that sense tenure makes good sense and for many different reasons, least of which is ensuring the future of the institution.

Depends. Are the multiyear contracts renewable? If so, does renewal require the sort of productivity and documentation and life-paralyzing preparation that a tenure review would require, and are the decisions peer-based and politically-based like tenure? If the former, I’m still interested. If the latter… well, I would need to know more before going forward…

Debates about the worth of tenure, points pro and conetc., are fun thought experiments but are entirely off target.Tenure has already eroded to the point of insignificance. The direction of the professoriate is quite clear–contingency hastriumphed. 85% at the two year college level; approaching 70%at the full university level. Some of the saddest conversations I’ve had occurred with grad students who imagined they somehow would land future job security.

“I absolutely would *not* pursue positions at schools without tenure.”Fine. When the economy “recovers” used car salesmen will be in high demand.

The problem these days is that if you don’t consider a position at a univ that doesn’t offer tenure, you are limiting your job market possibilities – and pretty severly depending on your discipline. I work at a private school – no tenure and no multi-year contracts. Purely “at will”…and I really don’t have any job security at all.

I personally would not bother applying (other forms of contract work pay much better). But I know many, many adjuncts and ABDs who would. There already are line ups for adjunct jobs, which offer less security than a term position.

I was recently denied tenure by a President who didn’t care that the Provost and a faculty committee full of highly respected faculty members recommended that I be granted tenure. He listened to my former colleagues – people in a department that has long been known for its unhealthy culture. He didn’t care that my former coworkers used the wrong criteria to evaluate me and that the chair made up the criterion of “consistency of scholarship” (i.e. you should publish consistently from the start of your probationary period to the end). Until tenure candidates can be guaranteed due process, I have no problem being at an institution that has no tenure system. I’ve heard too many stories like mine in which the tenure evaluation process was used as a mechanism for bullying.

I would not consider a position at a university that did not offer tenure, but then again that’s in part because I currently have it and would view that as a step down. Were I a new Ph.D. in a tight job market I might think very differently.

I would not pursue a job at a university that doesn’t offer tenure– we have all heard the stories of demoralized faculty at these places, if they can be called institutions of higher learning. But #6: what you are missing is what has already fallen by the wayside: annual raises. We are already among the poorest paid professions, except perhaps at the most elite schools; not getting raises when the cost of living has risen substantially is driving just as many people out of academia as the realization that tenure tract jobs are disappearing fast. Higher education is in a crisis. THe current emphasis on community colleges that the current administration is fostering– that is, getting jobs filled rather than intellectual learning, is not the answer. The question is, do we care if this country has an intellectual elite with applicable knowledge? Will we wind up outsourcing education as well?

To #18, I did take that 8 course load. And now I’m in for my second year, attempting above standard teaching and having to put my research aside. My drive for all of it is depleting at this point. To those tenured, who have the voice to speak up about it, (if the economy becomes on our side again), please remember us and note that this is NOT a golden opportunity to help those “just out” talents. It kills us early instead.

I applied for a fulltime non-TT job 2 years ago, while I was working in industry. I got interviewed, and the department was so impressed (I happened to be an exact fit for what the department needed right then), they got the position converted to TT as a carrot. I took the job. Now, I really really wish that the job had stayed non-TT. I could have taught my courses, helped the students, and gone home at the end of the day, done with it. Instead, I am innudatd with departmental service, research requirements (on a 4 course per semester teaching load) and a general sense of being a serf. I have barely seen my kids in over a year. Why on earth did I take a TT job when I really wanted one of those non-TT fulltime teacher jobs?