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 “I don't believe in tenure even for faculty – it is an antiquated process whose time has passed. It was begun as a way to ensure academic freedom and has become a 'guarantee of employment.' It is especially difficult for women – who are often having to make decisions about whether to pursue tenure or a family and often put off one to the detriment of the other. Tenure is a bad idea – accountability, job review, performance review, and productivity can be measured and rewarded without providing something that has no place in the modern world as an enticement. Most fair employment and other laws have done a nice job of providing security if that is what is wanted – additionally, most states are moving towards post-tenure reviews in a response to some of the criticisms of tenure.”– Robin Barnett, The University of Southern Mississippi, April 3 “The mission of land-grant institutions mandates cooperative extension, the largest informal teaching program in the world. The PSU extension agents were awarded tenure-track positions at PSU more than ten years ago. Also, the PSU librarians were awarded tenure a few years ago. Given this track record and the nature of what we know academic advisers do: teaching, research and service - of course, academic advisers should be tenure-track positions.”– Barbara K. Wade, Penn State University, April 6 “Since the tenure concept and process are defined and structured for the teaching faculty (primarily), I would submit a 'No' answer to the question. I don't think we are in a position to re-define or re-structure that process for academic advisers. Let me explain why.Academic advisers, even on the same campus, often come from varied backgrounds (whereas faculty come from a single discipline), and we have not codified a uniform set of credentials for them. Faculty have differential expectations and responsibilities re: their teaching, research and service functions, as do advisers; however, the faculty criteria for meeting these roles are much better defined than those for advisers. For example, the 1998 National Survey shows that 1/3 of advising programs have no evaluation process at all, and the methods of evaluation for the others clearly lack peer review (only 9%), which is the essence of faculty tenure review. Finally, as I sense the pulse of higher education, the future seems to be moving AWAY from tenure. I don't think we want to be perceived as regressive in one sense, as we continue our efforts to promote student growth and success in so many others. Now, if we want to pursue the re-definition and re-structuring efforts, that's another story, but I also think we have plenty to accomplish before expending a lot of energies and resources on them.” – Tom Grites, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, April 7 “Absolutely!! Currently there is debate as to whether academic advisers are faculty or staff. There is no doubt in my mind that academic advisers, simply by their title, are faculty!
The services and guidance provided by these professionals, without which the university could not operate, should be recognized as an integral faculty necessity, and be offered as a faculty position with tenure possibilities!”– Vicki B. Foy, College Completion Counseling, April 7 The Mentor is published by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies Available online at www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/ Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright | © The Pennsylvania State University | All rights reserved | |
