College students, who see their professors regularly in the classroom, are often detached from the national debates surrounding faculty hiring issues. The ever-controversial tenure system is often referred to as the abortion issue of higher education. While the percentage of full-time faculty who are tenured at Tufts has remained relatively constant over the past few years, the number of part-time faculty has increased significantly. The continuing debate on the tenure issue illustrates the ongoing conflict between Tufts teaching and research goals.
The University's tenure system, which guarantees academic freedom and job security, is incredibly complicated and requires professors to demonstrate dedication to scholarship, teaching, and service during their six-year tenure track. Many faculty agree that it is more difficult for junior faculty to achieve tenure today, since they do not fully understand which component of the tenure system that Tufts prioritizes. Grant funding has also become more difficult to secure as research expectations have increased nationwide. Tenure-track faculty must now walk a fine line between the research and educational components of their jobs.
"I think some of the expectations have changed," English associate professor Modhumita Roy said. "Tufts is both a good four year liberal arts college and a research institution. The goals of these two are not always identical and therefore it produces certain kinds of difficulty for us."
Junior faculty are often encouraged to help create programs and develop new ideas that will benefit the students. "I certainly felt a tremendous amount of pressure to be on various committees and mentor students," Roy said.
Approximately 80 percent, or 253 out of 317, of full-time faculty in Arts and Sciences are tenured right now, and that number has hovered between 76 and 82 percent for the past five years. The percentage of professors in each department, however, varies considerably from year to year. For example, in the comparative religion department, there are currently no tenured professors, but three years ago, all of the department's full-time professors were tenured. The situation is expected to change again within the next few years, as there are two tenure-track professors and the department is currently searching for a third one.
But the fact that 80 percent of full-time professors have tenure does not mean that students are taught by tenured professors 80 percent of the time, as Tufts currently employs 208 part-time faculty. This number has been increasing over the years, reflecting a national trend.
"Institutions want to be more nimble and hire or fire faculty more easily. The appeal for tenure isn't what it used to be," said Cathy Trower, a senior researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education who is working on the Project on Faculty Appointments.
"Part-time faculty are much cheaper," Roy said. "My question would be what's the effect on students when we increasingly rely on part-time and adjunct faculty. I think it's negative all around." Roy also went on to mention that the part-timers themselves lose out, even though they are often trained in a similar way to tenured faculty and work just as hard.
"They put their heart and souls into their work and run from pillar to post to try and make a living. It sets up a two tier hierarchy," she said.
Another debate that is occurring both nationally and at Tufts is whether there is a need for tenure in the first place, as critics of the system believe that an employee should not be hired for life. Experimentation and freedom to pursue passions represent the archetypal examples of the benefits of tenure, but there is also fear that some professors who are productive during their six years of review will become less involved after they achieve tenure.
However, professors at Tufts dismissed this problem and said that the strength of the candidates brought up for tenure ensures that it will not occur often here. "My impression is that it's certainly not common, but I'm sure it happens. No doubt there are a few who take advantage of the system," former Tenure and Promotion committee chairman Stephen Levine said.
"[Tenure] acts as extortion," English professor Elizabeth Ammons said. "The main reason tenure exists is to guarantee academic freedom. If you don't have that you're risking your job."
Department of German, Russian, and Asian Languages associate professor Gloria Ascher said that tenure is beneficial because it provides professors with opportunities to enrich the community through both research and the creation of new classes and programs. For example, because of Ascher's work, Tufts now offers both majors and minors in Judaic studies.
Ascher also had the chance to design new courses, such as Ladino Language and Culture. Once a professor achieves tenure, their workload does not diminish, and juggling class work and scholarship is the source of much stress for professors at Tufts. "You sometimes have to choose," Ascher said. "Are you going to go home, go to the library, or meet with a student?"
The process of achieving tenure involves obtaining critical letters from outside reviewers, experts in the candidate's field, members of the Tenure and Promotion Committee, and administrators all the way up to President John DiBiaggio himself. It is completed at the end of a tenure-track faculty member's sixth year at Tufts.
"A number of outsiders have commented that we have one of the most complex tenure systems that exists," Levine said. "We have a very elaborate process and it's costly. But, it's also fair in that it's hard for any one person to impact it dramatically."
However, the system is not perfect, and Ascher explained that the system is only as fair as the people who are implementing it. "I think there are cases that should have gotten tenure, from my own point of view," she said. "I knew one colleague very well, and she was a wonderful teacher [and] students [were] banging at the door to get in. I don't know what happened."
Tenure is a relatively recent phenomenon in higher education, and it has become more complex and prestigious over the years, according to Provost Sol Gittleman. In the early 1950s the American Association of University Professors instituted a Declaration of Principles because of a concern that professors could be fired for political reasons. The process was originally fairly informal; tenure was granted by the dean, and Gittleman said that little scholarship had to be done to obtain it.
In the late 1960s, the faculty became a bit more professional and peer reviews were required. The Tenure and Promotion Committee decided outside evaluation was necessary, and tenure candidates then had to procure recommendations from the department, dean, provost, and president. This process is similar to what occurs now, and only the details have changed over the past 30 years.
