Inside Higher Ed: 30-Minute Chat to Tenure
Lloyd A. Jacobs announced last week that in his role as president of the University of Toledo, he plans to interview every faculty member who comes up for tenure before making a recommendation to the board on whether to approve the bid.
While many faculty members are angry about the idea that an academic career can be evaluated in a short conversation, Jacobs said he finds it odd that people expect a president to urge trustees to grant tenure to someone without the president having talked to the person and formed an independent judgment. “I think that the concept of university presidents being relegated to a rubber stamp role is one of the downsides of our current higher education,” he said.