The creation of tenure with all of its faults has had one overriding shortcoming. That is, without tenure, the entire higher education world would be unable to recruit professors. If Nevada, with support of its Regents, eliminated tenure in its higher education institutions, Nevada would not be able to compete for the best faculty in the nation unless all other states eliminated tenure and obviously that will never happen.
Even a super star professor at another institution who felt totally secure with his or her academic achievements, and who would have no fear of being terminated, would still be reluctant to come to a Nevada higher education system if it had no tenure. It is unfortunate that this is a higher education philosophy because it will lead to the further reduction of finances by legislatures and private donors who don’t like “feeding a dead horse.”
Remember that tenure creates a lifetime employment contract between the university and the professor which in reality cannot be terminated by the university.
A Catch-22
ReplyDeleteHi Jim, As you know it's not lifetime job security and employment of tenured faculty can be and regularly is terminated by the institutions for cause or in times of financial duress.
ReplyDeleteDear NFA-UNLV,
ReplyDeleteI don't understand what you are trying to say. Could you clarify?