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Session 2275

Preparation for Tenure and Promotion- Quality and Quantity

Bob Lahidji, Ph.D. College of Technology Eastern Michigan University

Introduction Today, it is a challenge to secure tenure status in academic institutions. Some faculty are not granted tenure because they failed to prepare their materials properly, or they did not understand the evaluation criteria. The process of organizing materials for tenure is very tedious and takes a lot of time. Some faculty are not adequately informed by their supervisor regarding the evaluation criteria, the complexity of the process, documentation required, or the consequences of the process. Very often, the individual responsible assumes the faculty member knows how the process works. Hence this paper will provide a general overview of the tenure process and provide general guidelines for individuals who are preparing their materials for a tenure decision.

Tenure Today, more than ever, tenure is under attack! It is clear the corporate mentality is forcing itself into academia. The idea that the students are “clients” or “customers” is prevalent in some academic circles. Jim Perley, in his editorial, stated that “Tenure protects faculty from unjust dismissal. However, faculty still can be terminated for incompetence, but not for personal or political reasons. Moreover, the notion of economic security through tenure makes the profession more attractive to qualified individuals.”1. In addition, tenure is commonly defined as “the right of a regular faculty member to hold his/her position with pay, until the age of retirement. Only for adequate cause and under stipulated procedures may the faculty member be dismissed, demoted, prematurely retired, or placed on indefinite leave without pay from that position.”2

Tenure and Promotion at Eastern Michigan University The tenure process at Eastern Michigan University will be used as an example. The process used is very typical with the understanding that some universities use different processes and/or criteria.

According to Eastern Michigan University AAUP handbook document, tenure is described as follow: The primary purpose of academic tenure originally and presently is the preservation of academic freedom. That freedom, protected by sufficient degree of economic security to make the profession attractive to men and women of ability, is essential if the professor and thereby the University is to fulfill the function of being that agency in a society devoted to the search for and exposition of truth. At Eastern Michigan University academic tenure is awarded to a faculty member only after he/she has proven himself/ herself to be a worthy member of the University community.3

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Lahidji, B. (1998, June), Preparation For Tenure And Promotion Quality And Quantity Paper presented at 1998 Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/1-2--7352