Dive Brief:
- The Wisconsin Board of Regents voted to preserve tenure in its own policies but passed up the opportunity to publicly denounce a budget proposal before the legislature that would strip state law of tenure protections.
- Inside Higher Ed reports faculty are losing hope after being frustrated and disappointed with the lack of forceful action by the Board of Regents.
- According to the New York Times, higher education institutions around the country are struggling with the long-term financial implications of tenure and, in some cases, delaying its start or modifying its protections of new faculty, but tenure itself doesn’t seem to be in real danger outside of Wisconsin.
Dive Insight:
As the New York Times reports, only about a quarter of faculty in the United States are tenured or on track to be considered for tenure. The rest work under short-term contracts or no contracts at all, their positions dependent on the whims of student enrollment. Historically, the brightest and most promising researchers are offered tenure as a bribe of sorts to keep them in academia instead of looking for higher pay in industry. In Wisconsin, politicians are arguing against tenure for its long-term cost and lack of flexibility. If tenure is stripped from the state’s university system, however, there is no doubt the best faculty will leave.