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The Tenure Question

October 17, 2011, 4:03 pm

By Gene C. Fant Jr.

For all of the discussion about tenure that has filled academe over the past couple of years, people still seem surprised to learn that there are many definitions of tenure floating around. Indeed, for those who are on the market, it is exceedingly important to understand that the definition at your doctoral alma mater may differ significantly from that of the institution where you may end up teaching. The advent of post-tenure review has changed the conversation a good deal, in that tenure no longer presupposes a “life-time guarantee” of employment. Just as important, though, is how the process of tenure has been changing over the past decade. Tenure is as likely to be driven by the realities of budgets now as it is by idealistic notions of employment, with limits placed on how many faculty may hold tenure at a given time. Just because an institution offers “tenure” does not mean that every implicit question will be answered in the same way as it might be at other institutions.

I would advise job seekers to pursue these issues at some point in the interview process, but certainly no later than an on-campus interview:

1. Find out the percentage of the institution’s full-time faculty holding tenure. What percent of the department’s full-time faculty hold tenure? Is there a limit to how many persons may hold tenure in the department at a given time?

2. If possible, determine the average length of service prior to the attainment of tenure.  Are “time-outs” available for personal reasons (parenting, aging-parent care, illness)?

3. Check the faculty handbook, if available, to see how long tenure is in force before its status is reviewed. What does the post-tenure-review process look like? Does it appear to have as its goal the improvement of long-standing faculty or the identification of non-productive personnel?

4. Ask different members of the department and the administration about tenure separately and see how their answers match or vary.  Wide variances may indicate a murky process.

Do you have other questions you would suggest that job seekers ask regarding tenure?

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  • henry_adams

    “Ask different members of the department and the administration about tenure
    separately and see how their answers match or vary.  Wide variances may indicate
    a murky process.”

    Indeed.  There’s no rhyme or reason when it comes to tenure.  Ask, ask, ask. Prepare to be horrified.

    Henry Adams

  • eudaimon

    I would also ask how much and what types of abuse you can inflict upon contingent faculty, staff and students with impunity. That is an important measure of tenure and surely separates the spurious and thin forms of tenure from the robust and traditional sorts.

  • graddirector

    Dont forget to ask about whether tenure comes with a salary guarantee and if so, what percentage of the salary.  While this is probably more of an issue for science faculty, a number of my friends who are medical school faculty hold so-called tenure but if they fail to secure grant support at any time in their career, their salary starts to fall.  In the extreme case at a couple of highly ranked schools I am aware of, that percentage can become zero in the end.  So while they hold “tenure”, it is certainly no guarantee that they can pay their mortgage or send their kid to college in the future.

  • cwm4c

    Nor should it be

  • tgroleau

    “Ask, ask, ask. Prepare to be horrified.”

    About 10 years ago I interviewed at a competing school.  I met many different people throughout the day and asked every one of them what it took to get tenure.  I got the exact same answer from all of them – new hires, newly tenured, senior faculty – until my last meeting of the day when I met with the NEW dean.  He described roughly double the research output that everyone else had told me.  When I pointed out that his answer differed greatly from all the other answers he said “it’s time to raise the bar”.  

    I didn’t get the job but I felt bad for the recent hires who were brought in under one set of expectations and then had a new set thrust upon them.  At least I would have known what I was getting into.  A couple years later, the dean moved on to a bigger position and left a mess behind.

  • polargrid

    Establishing clear tenure criteria is critical.  Many institutions, especially R1s, have 2 sets of tenure requirements: those spelled out in the university and departmental policy documents, and the constantly shifting “tacit” criteria that can be used to push a qualified candidate out of the “club.” Examples: he’s got 35 papers but not enough from his “primary project,” she didn’t get any job offers from other institutions; one of his old colleagues served on the editorial board of a journal he published in, so those papers “don’t count,” she only has 2 grants as PI and should have 3.  Some universities are working hard to standardize, openly circulate and de-mystify tenure criteria so this kind of thing has a lower probability of happening, but unfortunately it’s still all too common.  Candidates should get department heads and anyone else involved in the tenure and promotion process to commit in writing to exactly what the criteria are (including quantifiable metrics like the required number of publications and grants) and be prepared for a fight if the goalposts get moved at the last minute.

  • eudaimon

    I have gotten the impression that tenure decisions are quite uneven, having seen some strong researcher/teachers fail to be promoted, while some real flunkies got tenure (at list in private, liberal arts colleges). In these cases the difference seemed to have to do with whether you had backing or not, and backing often required that one be as inept and incompetent as one’s backers. Are my experiences anomalous? 

  • exile2002

    You also need to ask if promotion comes with tenure. At my school, it doesn’t, and it’s something you have to get in line for, apparently.

  • madamesmartypants

    Wait, tenure should NOT come with a salary guarantee? If it didn’t come with a guaranteed salary,then a school could penalize you by arbitrarily changing the rules regarding how much funding guarantees salary, by what date you need to have secured funding, what types of funding count, etc. In essence, it wouldn’t be tenure–you know, the whole “you can’t fire me because you don’t like my ideas” thing–since having the power to substantially reduce an employee’s salary is as threatening and prohibitive as arbitrary firing. 

  • matt1959

    What are the differences, both structural and practical of tenure track versus non-tenure track? Have an advising practice of 17years – want to slow it down but continue it while teaching. Currently, a PhD candidate.

  • eudaimon

    There are very signficant differences in security, pay, status, and privileges. These will be most deeply felt if you are non-tenure track but pursuing a career as a faculty member. If you plan to make teaching your career, these differences will be important. However, if your advertising practice remains you main career/job, then these differences may not matter as much.

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