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January 2000
Universities are under great pressure to rapidly adapt to and serve an ever-changing
marketplace and society. At the same time, colleges and universities are challenged by a
constantly fluctuating financial environment and ever-advancing educational technology.
Within the faculty ranks, these forces are shaping the debate on the academic tradition
of tenure. This week's University of Cincinnati e-briefing examines tenure and how its
future may shape the future of higher education.
Also, a UC researcher surveys the public and media about what we really want in a
presidential candidate.
Table of contents:
1. Technology to reshape tenure
2. Tenure as a guarantor of academic freedom
a. Pinched by economic pressure
b. Political correctness, then and now
c. Academic freedom? Yes. Academic free ride? No!
d. Senior faculty stifle freedom
3. Hiring practices alter tenure
a. Do students notice who's tenured?
b. A different kind of contract
c. The role of the adjunct; senior faculty stifle freedom
4. In search of the perfect President
1. TECHNOLOGY TO RESHAPE TENURE
Michael Margolis, UC professor of political science, says the Internet is reshaping
universities and the tenure system. Online education is "headed towards a kind of
consolidation and standardization at universities, at least in terms of freshmen- and
sophomore-level courses." Margolis presented a paper, "Using the Internet for Teaching
and Research: A Political Evaluation," at the annual meeting last fall of the American
Political Science Association where he predicted that new technology "could, at long last,
break the professorial guild." contact: 513-556-3310
2. TENURE AS GUARANTOR OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM
A. Pinched by economic pressure
Andrew Ross, director of the American studies program at New York University: "Take
away tenure and you have demolished one of the chief pillars of free speech in a society
that pays lavish lip service to the principle, but restricts the practice of that principle
through the workings of its economic system. Tenure is...the only thing that stands
between higher education as we know it, and the bloodless prospect of the 'wired
university,' pumping out curricular content like some parody of an automated factory."
contact: 212-998-8538
B. Political correctness, then and now
Henry Winkler, UC president emeritus and professor emeritus of history, has spent 60
years in higher education and believes tenure is necessary. He remembers colleagues at
Rutgers University who were fired during the McCarthy era because of their
unwillingness to testify before committees. "Tenure was initially a protection for
academic freedom. While there are a lot of attacks on that today, a university is a place
where questions need to be asked openly and often times, those are uncomfortable
questions...As far as I can see, except for a few departments in a few institutions in the
country, there's more pressure on the faculty from the conservative side than the liberal
side, but [there needs to be] protection from both sides." contact:
513-556-0125
C. Academic freedom? Yes. Academic free ride? No
David Lee Smith, UC professor of architecture and former chair of UC's faculty senate,
believes tenure has to be made responsive to public demands, in much the same way
universities are having to change the way they operate to meet the needs of the public.
"Tenure at public institutions needs to be more responsive than that at private
institutions. We at public institutions take money from the public, and we need to be
responsive to the needs and demands of the public...It [tenure] shouldn't be seen as a
way to totally protect faculty from changing expectations of the marketplace... allowing
them a lifetime career of independent operation. It may be that the public
doesn't want to pay 'X amount' for particular areas of research that aren't perceived as
meeting public need." contact: 513-556-5291
D. Senior faculty stifle freedom
Judith M. Gappa, professor of educational studies at Purdue University and co-author of
"The Invisible Faculty: Improving the Status of Part-Timers in Higher Education," has
been working with colleagues through the American Association for Higher Education
on issues of tenure, including how non-tenured faculty might still retain guarantees of
academic freedom. "Most people think that all faculty need a sense of academic freedom.
But some are saying that the major issue in academic freedom is right inside the
institution having to do with the tenure-track process...That's the idea that junior faculty
are not willing to say certain things because they may upset senior faculty and the impact
that could have on tenure review." contact: 765-494-8121
3. HIRING PRACTICES AND TENURE
A. Students seem accepting
Carol K. Winkler, chair, communications department, Georgia State University, says
students don't demonstrate much concern about the tenure status of teaching faculty,
despite the fact that Georgia State created 95 new full-time, non-tenure track faculty
positions this year to cut back on the number of part-time faculty needed. Winkler's
department hired 15 new visiting professors this year, an alternative she approves in lieu
of employing as many as 35 part-timers in the past. "Student concerns have not focused
on the fact that a faculty member is non-tenure track or tenure track." contact:
404-651-2592
B. New structure for contracts
Paul Michaud, UC associate vice president for human resources, notes that more
universities and colleges are starting to use five- to 10-year contracts for faculty in place
of tenure. He believes that these contractual arrangements will become even more
common in the future. Recent figures from the National Center for Education Statistics
show that one-third of junior professors surveyed were not in tenure-track positions,
compared with only one-sixth of senior professors who had been in their positions eight
years or more. Junior professors also reported lower job satisfaction, and only 70.5
percent of junior professors felt secure about their jobs, compared with 86.5 percent of
senior professors. contact: 513-556-1015
C. The role of the adjunct
Judith M. Gappa, professor of educational studies at Purdue University and co-author of
"The Invisible Faculty: Improving the Status of Part-Timers in Higher Education," thinks
the issue of adjuncts vs. tenured professors is growing in importance. "Numbers show
that 44 percent of total faculty are part-time, and about 26 percent of all full-time faculty
are in non-tenure track positions, so those are emerging trends." contact:
765-494-8121
4. IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT PRESIDENT
While the nation waits to see who wins the first major presidential primary in New
Hampshire Feb. 1, UC communication professor Judith Trent is looking beyond "who" by
asking more questions about the presidential selection process: What do Americans want
in a president? What does the media want in a candidate?
From Jan. 23-31, Trent will be "on the bus" with the media up in New Hampshire
for her fourth presidential primary since 1988. Her mission is to survey hundreds of
Americans and journalists about what characteristics make a desirable president just as
she has done in 1988, 1992 and 1996.
One question Trent has added this year will explore the declining importance of
party in the choice of presidential candidates. " I have added a question about whether
or not people believe it is important to be a Republican or Democrat."
Another thing Trent is curious to learn about in this presidential primary survey is
how the media and the public will answer questions related to presidential character in
light of the Clinton scandals. "Will they define character in more personal terms than
they have in the past? Will they have a heightened awareness of moral integrity?" Trent
asked.
Her previous research shows the greatest difference between journalists' and the
public's presidential preferences was that journalists prefer candidates who are forceful
public speakers (No. 3 on the media list, while only No. 6 for the public). Also, media
respondents felt proven experience and competence in elective office was more
important (No. 7) than the public (No. 10).
Characteristics that rate at the bottom of the list are age, sex, race, wealth and
military service. Only 7.7 percent of those surveyed agreed that a presidential candidate
should be male.
"I am dreadfully sorry Elizabeth Dole has pulled out because that would have been
an interesting race," the researcher lamented. contact: 513-556-4337
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