Necessity for tenure outweighs criticism

Nationwide, the idea of tenure is drawn into suspicion over the effectiveness of professors and teachers in the educational system. According to a 2007 Zogby poll, a majority of the public believes the tenure system in higher education to be a "serious problem." Weber State University, on the other hand, does not hold the same attitude for the most part. Many WSU professors argue the system is misunderstood, but others may not necessarily agree. "I understand suspicion and skepticism about the tenure system," said Kathy Herndon, WSU English chair. "because there has been suspicion and skepticism about the tenure process for a long time. I've heard it a lot over the years, and I think, in some cases, skepticism is well-deserved. "I have heard people say 'oh when a professor gets tenure, then they stop working,' or 'they get lazy, because they don't have to work hard to get tenure.' That's not exactly true, because, when someone gets tenure, they have promotions left. People don't necessarily stop working once they get tenure, because, if they want a promotion, they have to continue working." Herndon explained these misconceptions could be cleared away with more understanding of the system. At WSU, professor tenure is achieved through six years of employment at the university that includes rigorous activity in teaching, scholarship, and service. Throughout the six years, professors are continually reviewed and evaluated. Scott Rogers, an English professor, will be up for tenureship next year, and has already spent a great deal of time preparing through publications, conferences and positive student evaluations. "You've worked all this time to get the degrees and the expertise," Rogers said, "and to be a good teacher and do all this stuff and here is the culmination of all of that in the 'yes we'd like you to stay' or 'no we want you to go somewhere else.' Its very stressful, there is a lot on the line." Rogers pulled out an enormous binder onto his desk filled with every moment of his career. "We have to put together what's called an autobiographical file," Rogers said, "like a large resumé. And in it is everything we've ever done." Even after tenure, professors are accountable for the material in their classes. "I think tenure works well at Weber," said Jim Jacobs, the Kimbal Arts Chair. "It's an intensive process of review. "Review doesn't stop at tenure. It's more difficult to get rid of a tenured faculty, but that can be good and bad. "Just because it is more difficult doesn't mean you can't get rid of a tenured faculty member. If we had a faculty with terrible evaluations, we would find a way to get rid of that faculty member." Jacobs added that when a tenured professor receives bad student evaluations, the professor will often have to meet with the department chair to discuss what may have gone wrong. If be evaluations continue, the process to let that professor go can begin. "Tenure is a process," said Sheila Franklin, WSU junior, "the end goal of professors at Weber. Not all professors at Weber deserve tenure. They need to know how to teach and have to have favorable reviews from their students to get the privilege of staying here without worry." While the K-12 public education may be under scrutiny over the tenured teachers, the reason for tenure between elementary schools and colleges is very different. Tenure in elementary schools is earned much faster than at a college, and is there for teacher retention. Colleges and universities use the tenure system to protect professors, not only for job security, but also for academic freedom. "The idea is that tenure protects intellectual freedom," Rogers said, "so tenure would protect me, if I wanted to work on something that was unpopular or unusual."