The Chronicle: All eyes on tenure: Amid public scrutiny, the U of Colorade reviews its process for awarding the coveted status
The University of Colorado, in an attempt to counter public perception that it isn’t paying attention to the quality of its faculty, has begun a review of tenure on all four of its campuses.
The university hopes to defuse a political uproar sparked early this year when a professor, Ward Churchill, compared the victims of the September 11 terrorists attacks to Nazis. Public outrage only mounted when it was revealed that the professor had not earned his tenure by the book. The controversy, in addition to a scandal over allegations of rape in the athletics program, led to the resignation of the university’s president this summer.
The university has hired a consulting company, at a cost of about $330,000, and brought on a decorated retired U.S. Air Force general to oversee the tenure review.
Colleges periodically review their tenure policies, but often the reviews are internally driven. The Colorado effort appears to be the first one in recent years in which a state system has hired an outsider to take an in-depth look at its procedures. The University of Colorado’s review was proposed by faculty members, but political pressure surely played a role. Academics who are concerned that public criticism of tenure is weakening it are watching to see how the Colorado process plays out.
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