Scrapping tenure would raise costs

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Dec, 1996

Proposals to limit or abolish academic tenure could drive up the cost of going to college. Tenure acts as a brake on faculty salaries, which are lower than the average pay of doctors, lawyers, and other professionals, according to Matthew W. Finkin, a University of Illinois law professor and author of The Case for Tenure. "Institutions would have to pay higher salaries in return for the privilege to dismiss faculty more freely."

Tenure took root 80 years ago in reaction to attempts by college trustees, administrators, and state legislators to stifle what professors taught in the classroom. Under a system refined over the years, a faculty member who meets a school's requirements for teaching and scholarship after a probationary period as long as seven years is guaranteed continued employment.

Now offered at nearly all private and public universities to full-time faculty members, tenure has come under attack by neo-conservative writers and some politics, who say it encourages academic sloth and pushes up the price of education. Much of the controversy stems from misconceptions about tenure, Finkin maintains. It is not a guarantee of lifetime employment, but, rather, prevents the dismissal of faculty members without adequate cause as determined by a university's published rules and review process. Tenured faculty can be fired for dereliction of duties or in the event of a financial crisis.

Contrary to critics of tenure, the core issue of many disputes centers on academic freedom, not economics. Free speech is not protected by the First Amendment at private universities and is limited to matters of "public concern" at state institutions. "In the absence of tenure, there is no prohibition against arbitrary dismissal," Finkin argues.