by Hugh Johnston At UPEI we have a system called tenure, where pro-
fessors are confirmed with-’ '
in their appointment. According to the Faculty handbook, tenure is "appointment without term, the right of a faculty member not to be dis- missed except ‘for cause. . this includes ,the right during the appointment to fair consideration for increases in res- ponsibility and salary, and promotion rank
To examine tenure one must deal with the merit of tenure and the merit of the present system. 'Ihe traditional approach of tenure was to safe guard the intellectual independence of pro- fessors (an objective through study). This gives the professor a base upon which he may further his work in‘ making his contribution. Tenure also gives the , professor some job security. He knows that he cannot be fired unless he is tl'pmughly tent or if’he commits- " some gross delinquency of conduct. This is a , positive force, for in every occupation employees seek this security. Tenure protects the professor from cyclical-fluctuations in ideology that might jeopardize his position (even though this ,univer‘ sity is committed to the principle of academic freedom’as defined by C.A.'U.T.~' "see Faculty handbook pg 19")
It' also protects the professor from small
pressure: groups of students
who feel Slighted» without cause. . might consider tenure aprotection of truth. i , ' '3 .
But as in every system there is room for abuse, { and tenure allows lots of room. 'Jhé professor may ‘ become 50ft, inefficient and unproductive. He or she may slacken off» and ' lower the quality of ' teaching at UPEI. There is nothing worse than an ineffective professor. _ Tenure may set up a screen behind which the pro- fessor may hide. But
,3 firmer reaching question;
might be: 'does tenure destroy the "survival of the fittest" approach? If. of. i L teaching is layered by 4 _
pm“ _> _
Thursday,.. February 26,1981 page 5
Tenure in Question
such an approad'x, then tenure must be an un- acceptable solution.
When one examines what would happen if all hiring
.V was on term appointments,
me would see that it is an inefficient method.
If all appointments were on term, there would be
a tremendous turnover of professors . As is evi- denced by the UNB Business Department, such a turnover can be a drastic detriment to the quality of the pro- gram. Tenure selects the best of the professors in' order to Bet a high stan- dard. The longer these professors teach pro- ductively, the more
/ experienced they become
If the system is not abused, tenure can establish the highest quality of scholarship. “
But what of the tenure system at UPEI? Here all hiring and firing is done by the Board of Directors. . Any appointments must go through the depar— tmental Chairman, the Dean,
and the President, who makes . a recommendation to the
Board: Any aspiring pro- fessor must first be put through the royal wringer before receiving an app— ointment.
The criteria a pro: fessor must meet are:
l. foremost, the candidate's,
competence and promise as evidenced by his__teaching performance, and his research and publishing ventures.
2. Appropriate partici— pation in side duties involving his department or faculty.
3. Cooperation and suita— bility to the departments
, A long term plans.
These are fine criteria, ,but the whole system might
v depend‘upon the. interpreta-
tion, of these conditions. 'Ihere are rules governing this, but what happens in the case of a sellers market in' the recruitment of pro-
fessors? If the university is desperate for people, they will lower their standards. when these _ people have tenure and it turns to a buyers market, how do you replace» them with
better people? There is also the possibility that the Senate tenure committee might be' soft in their tenure appointments. is the opinion of many students and some faculty that the tenure committee was not only soft, but 'soft in the head' with respect to some appointments.
A survey of thirty 3rd and 4th year students was taken by the Sun. The results were a little over 2'.l against tenure. The reasons stated on the survey convey a lack of. knowledge by the student body with respect to tenure. 'Iherefore, one might postulate that the adverse reaction is part— ially due to lack of knowledge, and more impor— tantly, the students View of the professors in their own, as well as other departments. There is no question that" there are some students
It
v dissatisfied with their
professors (for there is some dissatisfaction with everything). The question is "How much of this dissatis- faction is due to the im- proper affirmation of
some professors through tenure? "
There is a long and detailed process that professors must go through to receive tenure. From the time a professor enters this university
a file is kept on’ them. rIhe professor is expected
to meet the expectations
of the Senate Tenure Committee with respect to , their criteria, Consideration for tenure is mandatory for all professors not hired on term. Contrary to what some intellectual fly weights in this institution believe, tenure is not given to
professors after ten years
“ (these people seem to base
this inspiration on the simple fact that the letters use'd informing the word "ten" coincidentally appears on the anterior section of the word "tenure") .
Application for tenure must
be made before Feb. 1 of the
candidate's fourth contract year. Consideration for tenure must be given in the fifth contract year. One could question this seemingly short period of time, but how much longer than four years does
it take to evaluate a pro—
fessor ' 5 performance?
The decision to give tenure is made by the Senate tenure committee based on the. Chair- man's recommendation, and a written submission by the candidate. The process of receiving tenure is long and drawn out, containing enough red tape to truly thrill the best of career bureaucrats. (see pgs, 29—27 of Faculty handbook) . If a candidate is refused tenure, he is in effect told to try again next year, but the university reserves the right to not renew the candidate's con— tract (i.e. bye, bye, marlie) .
Tne tenure system upholds a standard of equality in the university only if the Selection Committee is able to uphold a high standard. Sceptical students' opinions at UPEI are well founded . in their reservations to— wards tenure because of the quality of some of the pro— fessors. But, hopefully in the future, the purpose of the system will be upheld. (See the Sun after March break for controversy over term appointments and their effect on the tenure ' system) ‘
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