Obtaining tenure arduous but valuable
UP professors speak about the ups and downs of the tenure process
Melissa Nip
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: Living
Students are pulling out their hair, cramming for their midterms and assignments and want to cry because they think they are alone in their misery.
Yet students may not realize that some of their professors are also hard at work writing papers and worrying about upcoming deadlines. Many professors are spending their time preparing their applications for tenure.
Tenure was created to protect the intellectual freedom of professors and provide job security. It is a contractual right that protects professors from having their position terminated by the administration without just cause.
"It protects the faculty's political, religious and intellectual views," English professor Herman Asarnow said.
Tenured professors also make more money and generally have more control over their teaching schedules than professors without tenure.
According to Karen Nelson, Director of Institutional Research, 52 percent of UP's full-time faculty is tenured. That percentage is down from last year, when 54 percent of full-time UP professors had tenure. The previous year, 55 percent had tenure.
The downward trend is not unusual. According to the American Association of University Professors, by 2007, almost 70 percent of college and university faculty members (nationwide) were "off the tenure track."
The "tenure track" refers to full-time professors who are tenured or who can qualify for tenure eventually. The recession has made tenure track positions even more sparse because colleges can hire part-time adjunct professors to teach for much less money.
UP history professor Brian Els, who is a tenure track professor, considers himself lucky.
"Job openings for professors with Ph.D.s are pretty limited," Els said.
The tenure process is extensive and complicated. The professor must have at least six years of full-time collegiate teaching experience - including four years at UP - and file an extensive application during his or her third and fifth years of teaching.
Yet students may not realize that some of their professors are also hard at work writing papers and worrying about upcoming deadlines. Many professors are spending their time preparing their applications for tenure.
Tenure was created to protect the intellectual freedom of professors and provide job security. It is a contractual right that protects professors from having their position terminated by the administration without just cause.
"It protects the faculty's political, religious and intellectual views," English professor Herman Asarnow said.
Tenured professors also make more money and generally have more control over their teaching schedules than professors without tenure.
According to Karen Nelson, Director of Institutional Research, 52 percent of UP's full-time faculty is tenured. That percentage is down from last year, when 54 percent of full-time UP professors had tenure. The previous year, 55 percent had tenure.
The downward trend is not unusual. According to the American Association of University Professors, by 2007, almost 70 percent of college and university faculty members (nationwide) were "off the tenure track."
The "tenure track" refers to full-time professors who are tenured or who can qualify for tenure eventually. The recession has made tenure track positions even more sparse because colleges can hire part-time adjunct professors to teach for much less money.
UP history professor Brian Els, who is a tenure track professor, considers himself lucky.
"Job openings for professors with Ph.D.s are pretty limited," Els said.
The tenure process is extensive and complicated. The professor must have at least six years of full-time collegiate teaching experience - including four years at UP - and file an extensive application during his or her third and fifth years of teaching.
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