There is no academic freedom without tenure. But tenure is in danger

There is no academic freedom

without tenure.

But tenure is in danger.

Tenure: who cares?

Why tenure is important

Brief history of tenure

• Dates to 12th century Europe

• During middle ages, often included exemption from military service and taxes

• In U.S., academic appointments were often assumed to be continuing

• But there was (and is) no legal obligation

• Employment was “at will” (could be fired)

Brief history of tenure

• Tenure didn’t exist in U.S. before 1940!

• Senior faculty were fired for many reasons– Religious heresy– Opposing capitalism or monopolies– Opposing wars

• Columbia’s trustees dismissed J. McKeen Cattell for opposing WWI conscription legislation

• President Butler (library) was glad to see him go

Brief history of tenure

– Opposing trustees• Edward Ross favored municipal ownership of

utilities, opposed importing cheap Chinese labor• Mrs. Stanford, the sole trustee of Stanford in 1900

and major owner of Southern Pacific Railroad, fired him

• President Jordan forced faculty to sign statement favoring his ouster, or leave Stanford

AAUP

• American Association of Univ. Professors– Founded in 1915– Arose from joint efforts of

• American Economic Ass’n• American Sociological Ass’n• American Political Science Ass’n

– John Dewey was first president– Investigated egregious dismissals

AAUP

• The public opposed academic freedom – “the unalienable right of every college

instructor to make a fool of himself and the college by … intemperate, sensational prattle about every subject under the sun, to his classes and the public, and still be kept on the payroll or be reft therefrom only by elaborate process” – NY Times

• Administrators and presidents opposed it• Founded Ass’n of American Colleges

AAUP

• AAC supported AAUP’s position in 1922

• Why this reversal in 5+ years?– Increased need for professional training in law

and medicine, end of apprenticeship model– Increased demand for profs & higher ed– Administrators used it to cement loyalty,

without increasing salaries, esp. for stars

AAUP

• 1940 statement of principles– Tenure after not more than 7 years– Dismissal for cause or financial exigency– “Cause” to be judged by faculty, not admin.– Financial exigency has slipped, is well short of

bankruptcy, is judged by admin.– Tenure is to secure academic freedom – in

research, publication, classroom, & outside

Academic freedom/ tenure

• GI Bill post-WWII increased pressures– 1939-1959 student enrollment up 257%– By 1970, 80% of full-time faculty were tenured

or tenure-track– 50-75 dismissed/ yr. for “moral turpitude”– In recent recession, several schools declared

financial exigency, eliminated depts. and programs, and “let faculty go”

Academic freedom/ tenure

• Recent cases of protecting free inquiry

• U. Toronto dismissed Dr. Nancy Olivieri– Accused her (rumors) of incompetence,

stealing research $, sleeping with colleagues– She’d criticized major drug maker (Apotex

Pharmaceutical Co.) of selling unsafe drugs– Apotex was major U. Toronto doner– Multi-year inquiry cleared her of charges

Academic freedom/ tenure

• Dr. David Healy published criticisms of Prozac, sold by Eli Lilly & Co.– Lilly was major corporate donor to U. Toronto– Admin. spread rumors that Healy was bad

clinician, racist, and Scientologist – tried to withdraw job offer to him

• Hunter College faculty exposed admin. plan to create a “course” about knock-off products, to please a major donor

Tenure is not immunity from laws

Is tenure dying?

The end of tenure?

• Only 30% of current faculty are tenured or tenure track (vs. 80% in 1970)

• Admin. don’t need tenure as much now– More passive trustees reduce need for

alliances with faculty– Explosion of admin. staff reduced need for

faculty to take on admin. tasks– There’s a glut of PhDs, so it’s a buyers market

Tenure-track vs part-time

Tenured, tenure-track, full-time non-tenure, part-time faculty

Faculty vs. grad student trends

So is college getting cheaper?

• Part-time faculty are cheaper, and more numerous

• But tuition has increased – faster than graduates’ starting salaries

• And tuition has increased – faster than most economic indices

Tuition has increased a lot

Where is the money going?

• Number of administrators has increased faster than faculty/ student

• Next slide shows stats from Univ. of California system

• There’s also been a boom in buildings and amenities, to attract students

Administration exploding

Employees/student, US universitiesJ. Zimmerman, Christian Science Monitor, 2/28/2013

0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

faculty admin staff

1975

2005

Top admin. benefits are up

• Jack Lew, current US Treasury Secretary• Salary at NYU (2002-06) over $800,000/

year• Severance pay when he moved to a job in

the financial sector: $685,000• NYU “loan” for housing purchase:

$1,400,000, which was later “forgiven”

• Source: J. Zimmerman, Christian Science Monitor, 2/28/2013

NYU higher admin compensation, 2010

• Pres. Sexton: $1,476,625• Provost McLaughlin: 598,544• Michael Alfano (exec VP) 607,860• Robt. Berne (exec VP health) 880,587• Bonnie Brier (sr VP, gen council) 597,727• Marty Dorph (exec VP finance) 506,870• Debra La Morte (sr VP develop) 533,200• Alison Leary (exec VP operations) 338,807• Marilyn McMillan (VP for IT) 330,516• Linda Mills (global programs) 462,539

John Sexton & Martin Lipton (chair of NYU Board of Trustees)

What can be done to…

• Increase tenure, tenure-track positions?

• Reduce part-time and non-tenure-track positions?

• Reduce administrative & staff positions?

• Rein in administrative & staff salaries?

• These are difficult issues

So join & support the AAUP

Studies & protects academic freedom

Keeps you informed on academe

Sources

• Ginsberg, B. (2011). The fall of the faculty: The rise of the all-administration university and why it matters. New York: Oxford University Press. See esp. ch. 5.

• Graphics from various sources on the internet

– Slide show by Jim Uleman, NYU, 2013