How do professors get tenure

At one point, one English department had ten people competing for two tenure-track slots. While the profession as a whole advances when such competition allows the best and brightest to emerge from a pack of promising and accomplished candidates, spending years knowing that you are competing with your co-workers can create a very stressful working environment.

While many jobs involve competing with co-workers, I mention this detail because it works against the stereotype of professors as mild-mannered, bookish, and leading a relaxing life. Second, while a tenured professor can be fired for incompetence or gross misconduct, universities occasionally feel it is better just to wait for troublemakers to retire.

Because lawyers are always happy to sue on behalf of anyone who claims a breach of an employment contract. If a cost-conscious university could fire every professor who seems to be going through a slump perhaps because he is working on one long book instead of producing several short articles a year, or perhaps because she is teaching a ground-breaking new course on an unfamiliar subject so that the quality of her lectures — as evaluated by teenagers who are fresh out of high school — drops , then political in-fighting and personal vendettas could overshadow the long-term educational needs of students who are largely unaware of what they need to know and how their various courses fit together over time in order to prepare them to succeed.

A third argument against tenure is that it is not even a possibility for many college instructors. Because a university cannot lay off its tenured faculty members during periods of low enrollment, departments need a pool of expendable workers , so that they can add or cancel classes as enrollment fluctuates.

Fight or flight decisions are part of the tenure process. During the tenure process, decisions regarding the future are made by both the institution and individual. The department, college and university are deciding whether an assistant professor is an asset to their institution. A candidate for tenure is deciding whether or not the institution is the right place for his or her career. The optimal situation is when the institution and environment are the right fit for the individual and he or she is perceived as being a strong contributor.

There can be cases in which a tenure process is proceeding well, but the fit is not optimal, leading the professor to look elsewhere. Alternatively, if an assistant professor is perceived as not doing well or at risk in the gray zone, the professor faces the choices of fight or flight.

How much time and energy will he or she dedicate to working in a non-ideal department, possibly appealing an institutional tenure decision, as opposed to looking for a new position? This decision is very difficult and individualized, and no right answer exists. Contesting a tenure decision is usually a long, strenuous and expensive process with a series of internal procedures that may then be followed by outside litigation. Tenure Denied: Cases of Sex Discrimination in Academia describes tenure cases that were contested with the support of the AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund and illuminates challenges and difficulties in fighting tenure decisions.

While perhaps necessary, the flight option is also not easy, as it can be difficult to search for a position in the midst of a tenure dispute. If frank and honest feedback has been provided, an individual can choose to search for a new position in the third or fourth year, avoiding the assumption that the tenure process is not going well when one looks in the fifth or sixth year.

An advantage to writing letters of appeal as well as looking for a new position is that it requires specifying your strengths which are the items to be stressed when seeking a new position. Be prepared for potentially difficult decisions during the tenure process and weigh your options carefully.

While important, tenure is only one facet in life. The beginning of an academic career is very difficult for everyone and involves a lot of hard work.

Academic reward structures are such that devoting more and more time to work is recognized. There is always one more proposal to submit, paper to write, more time to spend on class preparation, another meeting, student to advise, etc.

But it is also necessary to achieve a degree of balance between work and personal life so that your efforts in both are sustainable. There are professors who have received tenure and a divorce in the same year.

Take time during the beginning of an academic career to build and maintain a personal support structure. Remember that family and friends love and care for you regardless of the outcome in your tenure case.

The beginning of an academic career is an exciting time that brings the major challenge of charting a course through the tenure process. Every tenure candidate brings individual strengths and weaknesses to his or her position and makes many decisions and choices as an assistant professor. You need to play the hand you are dealt to the best of your ability at your university, and no single path for success will work for all.

I believe that one can pursue tenure in such a way that he or she emerges from the process in a better place regardless of the tenure decision at a particular institution. Before tenure protected academic freedom, educators were restricted in what they could cover in class. They typically strayed from discussing controversial topics out of fear it may be negatively received.

After the Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure passed, however, professors received protection to cover broader academic topics.

Not only does this form of academic freedom benefit individual teachers, it benefits society by providing students with a more holistic, multi-dimensional education, in which they can learn about and discuss topics that educators might otherwise have avoided. When institutions grant tenure, instructors gain full freedom in both research and publication as long as they are meeting the core academic duties necessary in their roles. In addition, tenured educators are granted freedom in discussing their subject in the classroom, though they should ensure any controversial material covered directly relates to their subject.

Finally, colleges and universities cannot censor or discipline tenured faculty members on what they say or write. However, as the public may judge the institution as a whole for the beliefs and actions of a faculty member, educators should show respect for others and make sure others understand that they are speaking on behalf of their own beliefs, not those of the university.

One of the major benefits of achieving tenure from an institution of higher education is the job security that results from earning this status. While many staff members are hired and employed on an annual basis, tenured faculty maintain employment for an extended period of time, potentially until they retire. Once an educator earns academic tenure, he or she does not have to worry about being asked to return the following year, except under two possible circumstances.

Although this is rare, tenured professors have historically been asked to forfeit employment for some of the following reasons:.

When a tenured teacher may potentially be terminated for a justified reason, the institution will inform the individual in writing of a hearing that will take place on his or her behalf. Teachers, administrators, and scholars from the institution in question may be called upon to attend and participate in the hearing. If the educator receives a notice of dismissal for a cause not related to moral turpitude, he or she should expect to receive their wages for at least one year from the date they are notified.

Additionally, if a university decides to cut a program, any associated tenured staff may lose their jobs unless they can transfer their skills to another program within the institution. With the exception of these two uncommon circumstances, educators with academic tenure cannot be dismissed from their role for the remainder of their career. The AAUP explained that this disparity exists because teaching assistants who are students at four-year colleges typically take on teaching responsibilities that two-year universities designate to part-time professors.

According to their study, higher education institutions hired 30, full-time, non-tenure-track faculty members and 21, full-time tenure-track instructors in As the landscape changes, administrators will move to keep as much flexibility in staffing and budgeting as possible. I foresee challenges to academic tenure in the very near future.

Academic tenure is a valuable protection for faculty members. It protects academic freedom and the growth of ideas. Tenure is a process for faculty members to plan for and strive to get. While tenure is available, I encourage everyone to get it. So, stay current in your research and make sure that you bring your best to the classroom. As a professor for over 30 years who has been tenured twice, I now help people reach their academic career goals.

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. We at Beyond PhD Coaching firmly believe that diversifying academia is both necessary and important — and well past overdue.

This power has been Read more…. Academics are like polar bears. We live alone; we hibernate. We live a solitary existence, occasionally Read more…. Last Updated on: 9th October , pm When you are in graduate school you will most likely see at least one faculty member scrambling to put together their tenure file.