Higher Education? by Hacker Andrew; Dreifus Claudia

Author:Hacker, Andrew; Dreifus, Claudia [Hacker, Andrew; Dreifus, Claudia]
Language: ru
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780805087345
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Published: 2012-02-11T14:05:09+00:00

8

FIREPROOF: THE TANGLED ISSUE OF TENURE

At first glance, tenure seems an innocuous enough word. Literally, it refers to the period spent holding a position. As in, “His tenure as wrestling coach was the briefest in Yale’s history.” However, for professors, it may be the most important word in their vocational vocabulary.

And understandably so. For them, tenure is an ironclad assurance of lifetime employment. Once you have been given this guarantee, you can remain in your job for as long as you like. Even until you are well into your eighties; more than that, until the day you die. Of all the entitlements we cataloged in our opening chapter, tenure is the academy’s counterpart of ascending Everest. Only one other occupation boasts such a bulwark: federal judges are also in their jobs for life.

So as we use the word, we want to emphasize that it is not just another faculty fringe benefit, like health insurance or long vacations. Nor is tenure simply another seniority system, like those embedded in union contracts and civil service rules. As we write these words in 2010, millions of Americans have lost their jobs and not found new employment, including many in professional fields. However, tenured professors are rarely downsized or discharged; the vast majority of them are, in a word, fireproof.

The only caveat is that their institutions remain solvent. Yet colleges are remarkably resilient; even during the depressed 1930s, hardly any closed down. In 2009 and 2010, when budgets had to be trimmed, staff cuts started at the bottom. Thus in California’s public systems hundreds of contingent instructors were dropped; the classes they had taught were canceled and applying students were turned away. Some seniors couldn’t find the courses they needed for graduation. But not one of their tenured professors was removed from the rolls. At worst, they suffered some unpaid furlough days, adding up to a single-digit pay cut.

Tenure is a tangled issue, evoking emotions on all sides. In particular, those who have this guarantee are well aware of how valuable their prize is. Nor are they short on arguments they hope will safeguard their security. Of course, the phrase most often heard is academic freedom. That, we are told, is what tenure is really all about.

Surely we all favor untrammeled inquiry, an unfettered pursuit of truth, the advance of knowledge both by scholars and teachers in the classroom. But, it is also added, tenure is not there primarily to benefit its holders. Rather, we hear, it is the larger society that needs professors to be protected, so the public as a whole can enjoy the fruits of their teaching and research. A 1974 New Jersey superior court decision is often cited. Tenure exists, it is said, out “of concern for the general welfare by providing the benefits of uninhibited scholarship and its free dissemination.” Arguments like these can have a plausible ring, especially when they turn a professional perquisite into a national good. We hope we don’t have to reiterate that we fully

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.