An Opposing View On The Value Of Tenure

Tenure does not create a lifetime contract between the state and tenured professors. The Nevada System of Higher Education’s Code, Chapter 6 lists the many criteria under which a tenured faculty member can be terminated.  These criteria include competency in teaching and ongoing professional development. The difference then lay not in whether a tenured faculty member can be terminated, but instead in how a tenured faculty member is terminated.  Chapter 6 states that tenured faculty may only be terminated for cause, such as violating or incompetently executed of one or more criterion, and must be afforded due process rights in the event of termination.  As Nevada is a “right to work” state the law allows other types of employees to be terminated without cause or due process, so the only advantage tenure provides in relation to employment is tenured faculty receiving notification of the cause for termination and a process that proves the cause before being terminated.  Considering the amount of education and the years of work required to be awarded tenure, cause and due process seem pretty reasonable benefits not provided for in state law.