Money & Ethics

Forget Tenure Track: Colleges Should Track Performance

Discussion Policy

Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

By Knight Kiplinger

Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Sunday, June 28, 2009

QI am a young assistant professor, and I feel that professional advancement and higher earnings for myself and my peers are blocked by the refusal of aging, tenured professors to retire -- even those who everyone thinks have lost their passion for teaching and research. Do you think lifetime tenure is morally defensible?

ANo, I don't. Tenure was invented to protect professors from being fired for politically or intellectually unpopular views. But today there are other ways besides tenure to prevent this. I don't believe in lifetime employment rights (with the possible exception of federal judges). Everyone should be subject to periodic performance reviews. Professors should be judged on their teaching skills and scholarship.

Age should be irrelevant, as it became when mandatory retirement ages were banned years ago. Some very senior professors have more vitality and originality than much younger teachers, while others -- after fair evaluation -- should be required to step aside.