1 l s ' i 'J
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_

What
makes or
breaks a
college
teacher's
career?

BY JULIE BLAIR
HiPE COLLEGE, MICH.
ILLUSTRATIONS iY: DAVID BARNEDA, BUCKNELL U.
E DRONES. HE MOANS. HE PON-
tificates pointlessly for hours, a
cloud of chalk dust settling like
dandruff on the shoulders of his
tweed jacket. The Bad Professor
is the bane of all students, and thanks
to the tenure process, he may remain
at your alma mater long after you've
graduated. Worse yet, the teacher who
has his students stand atop their desks
yelling "carpe diem" may be asked to
seize the pink slip.

In the world of academic Darwinism, where
research grants fund programs and summon
heady prestige, institutions seem to be falling into
a pattern of granting tenure to professors whose
bodies are in the classroom but whose hearts and
minds aren't.
Although the tenure process varies at every uni-
versity, most schools follow traditional guidelines.
After five or six years, the tenure candidate goes
through a series of evaluations - by the depart-
ment, a schoolwide committee, a dean or provost,
the president and finally trustees. Many schools
require the nod from 60 percent of the department
and universal approval at all other levels.
When evaluating teachers, most colleges and
universities balance the teacher's performance in the
classroom with the quality and quantity of research
projects and service to the community. Once tenure
is granted, a university must demonstrate "adequate
cause" - a tedious and difficult case to prove - to
dismiss a professor.
The tenure bubble
Achieving tenure is the pinnacle of many teachers'
careers. It often comes with a substantial pay raise, a
lighter class load and job security. More important,
advocates say, is that tenure allows for greater acade-
mic freedom - a key element to higher education.
Tenured professors, without the looming threat of
termination, have the freedom to try out new ideas
and opinions otherwise thought of as "risky."
"I wouldn't have a job if I weren't tenured," says
Richard Berthold, an associate professor of history
at the U. of New Mexico. Berthold is a self-pro-
fessed wise-ass with a big mouth. "I'm off-the-wall
radical on the First Amendment and freedom of
speech. I say things in class that would get me fired
without tenure."
Tenure secures academic freedom and freedom
of speech at the PC university of the '90s,
Berthold says.
But others argue that the current tenure system
preserves "deadwood" - outdated professors who
continue to teach long after their teaching methods
and classroom manner have expired.
Bye bye security?
At Florida Gulf Coast U., a new university in
the state system, administrators will have the
option of offering multi-year contracts as an alter-
native to tenured positions. The contracts, renew-
able after two or three years, do not threaten the
liberties that tenured faculty believe they have,
says Steve Belcher, director of human resources at
the university.
"The faculty are protected in the sense that if
they feel their academic freedom or freedom of
speech has been violated, [they can address the issue
in court]," Belcher says.
Still, other schools are considering post-tenure
evaluations to review faculty performance. Post-
tenure reviews are already in effect at the U. of Col-
orado, U. of Hawaii and U. of Wisconsin.
Advocates say the evaluations will allow universi-
ties to pinpoint deadwood and to encourage good

faculty members. Others say the reviews are unnec-
essary and threaten to undermine the tenure process.
Making the grade
How hard is it to obtain the stamp of approval?
It all depends on the school.
Donald Downs, a member of the tenure review
committee in the political science department at the
U. of Wisconsin, Madison, says the university looks
at student evaluations but places more emphasis on
the amount of research a professor completes.
Rutgers U. grants tenure to 60 to 80 percent of
the candidates. To his students' surprise, Richard
Barr, associate professor of IEnglish, landed in the
other 40 to 20 percent.
Voted by students as Teacher of the Year and
Rutger Review's Best Teacher of the Year for two
years running, Barr was approved by the English
department but was denied tenure in one of the
final stages.
Despite a letter-writing campaign, petitions and
a hunger strike by two English majors, Rutgers offi-
cials still refused to give Barr tenure.
"It's not unusual for somebody to be particularly
strong in one area but not in another," says Jean
Ambrose, assistant vice president for faculty affairs
at Rutgers.
The same thing happened at the U. of Pennsyl-
vania: Three popular English professors were denied
tenure despite spotless records with students. The
students launched a protest against the university
but still no deal.
Mike Nadel, a senior at Penn and an advocate of
forming a student tenure review committee, says the
tenure decisions have little to do with balance.
Instead, reviews are based on the amount of
research conducted by the professor and sometimes
on his or her political ideology.
"If rio have conservative views, you keep them
to yourself until you get tenure," Nadel says.
If you don't do research at Bowdoin, you don't
get tenure, no matter how good a teacher you are,"
says Emily Church, a junior at Bowdoin College in
Maine and news editor of The Orient. "Generally,
there is little students can do about it."
Just how much input students should have is
hotly debated. "I don't think students are always
prudent in reviewing faculty," says Joe Crespo, a
senior at Duke U. "I get those teacher review slips,
and I know when I'm done, I can leave class."
That outcome is harsh for those denied tenure.
Although several do go on to other schools where
they receive permanent positions, many are disillu-
sioned by the process and turn away from the teach-
ing profession altogether.
"I worked with students by motivating them,
engaging them, inspiring them," says one teacher
denied tenure at an East Coast school. "Teaching
was an experience. It was about redefining knowl-
edge. I hoped there would be a place for that at col-
lege. I guess there wasn't "
Julie Blair, a politicalscience and communications major at
Hope College, is ookingfor a tenuredposition in thefieldof
printjournalism. Any takers?

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October 1995 " U 7. Mxagazine 21