Inside Higher Ed: In Colorado’s Chosen Chief, Faculty See Tenure Foe
The sole finalist to become president of the University of Colorado system was, as a state teachers’ union describes it, “the architect and chief proponent” of changes at Metropolitan State College of Denver that “eliminated tenure as we know it.” Bruce Benson, the owner and president of an oil and gas exploration and production company since 1965, served as chair of Metro State’s Board of Trustees during the 2003 policy alterations.
“Just to have someone like this who’s worked so hard to undermine academic freedom being the only person considered for the president at CU just blows our minds,” said David Sanger, president of the American Federation of Teachers’ Colorado chapter. The union sued over the 2003 changes to the faculty handbook, which deleted earlier protections ensuring that, in the event of layoffs, non-tenured faculty would lose their jobs before tenured professors and that the university would make efforts to relocate tenured faculty within the institution, in addition to changing hearing procedures.
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