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[curious]

OK, so what does "tenure" means in the case of community college?

I read a posting in these forums recently that said that tenure at cc simply means that your contract is renewed every 3 years.

And I also heard that due to budget constraints some community colleges are trying to cut down on tenure track faculty.

What's the deal here?

[CC Dean]

In my state both those statements are true.

CC Dean

[Mouse]

In my state, the first is not true.  CC tenure is tenure, not a rolling contract.  (Although our dept. chair is always careful to specify that "tenure doesn't mean that they _can't_ get rid of you for some egregious offense."  Just that you get due process and union henchmen on your side, I guess.)

At my particular CC, the second is also not true...we're on a hiring roll.  However, admin is trying to cut down on cost-of-living raises.  Other CCs in the state are trying to cut down on t-t faculty, I think.  (We're a small and newish college, so we're still trying to get up to speed, hence the hiring frenzy.)

The issue of how tenure is defined _may_ have something to do with whether you are in a "right-to-work" (in reality, "no right to form a union") state?

[John]

Tenure at my CC does require signing a new contract every year.  However, our faculty union makes it very clear that you can't lose your position unless the position is eliminated by the college or for some failure to perform your duty.  This is certainly true at other institutions.  In other words, tenure at a community college can have some of the same benefits and pitfalls as any other type of institution.