The has been tremendous growth and transformation in faculty employment rights. The rapid change in the faculty and employment rights in higher education has been propelled by changes in State and Federal laws in the United States of America (US). Faculty members have had to remain versatile in adapting to various changes within the regulations and policies passed by university systems. However, the main setback associated with these changes is the decline in the freedom and rights of faculty members. The decline witnessed in the articulation of faculty members’ rights have limited their collective bargaining power for improved working environments and remuneration (Team, 2014). The turning for faculty members concerning their freedom for expression and speech came to the limelight when majority of professors lost their tenure of teaching jobs.
Although the evolution of legal provisions and policies concerning the tenure of faculty members was gradual, the results of this process are seen in the contemporary university education with only a small number of professors having tenure positions. In this regard, the tenure system of faculty employment needs to be revised since it demotivates the professors in different public university. A sustainable tenure system in public universities supports competence, quality and motivates professors to focus on faculty governance and the university as whole. The articulation of faculty rights reinforces the collective bargaining power of professors in higher education.
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Tenure
In the academic realm, tenure means an academic appointment done by an institutional of higher learning. The tenure process includes assigning a professor an indefinite academic post with key responsibilities and duties to enhance and oversee the provision of quality education services and boast the public image of the institutions. Professors under tenure can hold for a long period since the tenure terms are subject to revision. However, the tenure awarded to a professor can be terminated indefinitely due to extraordinary factors or reasons such as financial exigency, gross misconduct or discontinuation of the program (Strait, 2019). Important to note, the tenure process is not available to certain countries that have accepted it as a form of contracting professors in public universities. One benefit of the tenure system is that a faculty member with tenure will not worry about their vulnerability to lose the job, especially for teaching controversial academic materials. In addition, educators with tenure can easily advance their education prospects, career and actively participate in research, development and information technology.
According to Strait (2019) in the previous decades, professors who used controversial academic sources and material to teach were unceremoniously laid off. However, with the adoption of tenure system in public universities, it was challenging for university management to lay off educators using controversial material to teach students. With the evolution of legal provisions and the need to reduce recurrent expenditure, tenured positions were gradually eradicated. The reduction in the number of educators under the tenured category focused on cutting budgetary costs with the rapid expansion of university education characterized by low intake of learners. For example, according to Wilson (2010) studies done over the last decade show that as the number of professors came off of tenure-track it was directly related to less students returning to college and also the graduation rate went down. Therefore, the universities began to develop formula for saving a lot of money with adjunct professors rather than tenure, they enjoyed the surplus and want to keep it in the budget (Wilson, 2010). It is against this backdrop that universities passed by-laws that curtailed the application of tenure positions when hiring professors.
There has been a dramatic decline in the use of tenured positions among many public universities in the US. This has had a negative impact on the quality of education since professors teaching controversial topics or engaging in controversial research are censored through threats and intimidation ( Carvalho & Diogo, 2018). The need to have periodical evaluations such as monthly had diluted the efficacy of educators in performing their duties diligently. Besides, professors are put in probation before being hired. As such, they are forced into embracing the culture and tradition of the university way before they are given an actual contract, assessments at the end of the probationary period has continuously led to a decline in tenured faculty members to a bare minimum.
However, crusaders of faculty rights such as the Academic Association of Universities (AAUP) that was formed in 1925 to agitate for the rights and freedom of professors proposes that faculty members appointed on a full time basis should be tenured. AAUP argues that it is in the interest of the universities to give tenure to faculty members on full time basis as a way of reinforcing their commitment to the provision of quality education (Tenure, 2019). Besides, Tenure (2019) AAUP supports that the proposal by universities to employ other faculty members on a part-time basis since they have their recommendations within their replications on tenure and working in tenure appointments.
On the other hand, as universities focus on aligning their operations to working with educators on contractual terms, there are some institutional rights that must be observed and preserved. Firstly, universities have to ensure that non-tenured professors have a right to protecting research and knowledge. The educators should have a fundamental right to engage in research and express the gained knowledge without fear of intimidation through the established academic process ( Shulman, 2017). Tenure gives professors security of job and the right to coordinate their teaching methods minus undue influence from the university administration or a disgruntled student. Finally, the professors have to understand that tenure empowers them to dispense administrative functions within their jurisdiction such as issues relating to faculty salaries, workloads, and termination.
Financial Exigency and Termination of Tenure
Financial exigency can be applied in the removal of faculty since the available financial resources will have been exhausted and there is a looming financial crisis or collapse. Hence, financial exigency can be of the fundamental grounds for removal of tenure provided the due process is followed as outlined in the contract terms. However, it is a challenging task for universities to remove from office tenured teachers unless under no any other circumstance, it is the only way or last resort to help the institution of higher learning revive its financial performance. Each public university has its own rules and policies that can be used to justify the removal from office of a tenured teacher under the financial exigency clause. However, the university has to be suffering from an acute shortage of finance and financial resources which tends to ultimately threaten the existence and capability of the university management to run the institution. This clause means that there are no more funds available to salvage the institution’s financial crisis and there is no any other way of resolving the problem other than removing tenured educators.
There are several rights that tenured individuals can enjoy upon termination of their contracts through financial exigency. For instance, the laid off educators can be recalled for part-time job. They are also eligible to a severance and recall policy if the institution regains its financial flow and it can sustain remunerating the tenured professor. There is need for mutual trust and respect for universities when terminating contracts based on the case of financial exigency. A study by Strait (2019) established that some universities laid off their tenured professors in guise of financial crisis. Hence, the termination of a professor under financial exigency must have a fair hearing. The legal hearing gives the faculty member to ask the right questions and be compensated for the undue termination of the contract. Otherwise, the management of universities will continually use the financial exigency point to immaturely terminate contracts of tenured professors for other reasons such as dislike for the professor. Notably, professor’s terminated under financial exigency have one recourse of finding justice through a fair hearing in the legal corridors of power.
Conclusion
Precisely, this study proposes that faculty rights such as tenure in higher education should be upheld since it reinforces educator’s commitment to work. Tenured professors dispense their duties diligently and are always available for consultations by learners. Various reasons can lead to termination of a tenure contract; for example, a gross misconduct by the professor, financial exigency or termination of a program taught by the professor. However, termination of a contract on financial exigency remains the most challenging aspect between universities and tenured educators. Universities have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the they are facing a financial crisis that can only be managed by laying of tenured professors.
References
Tenure. (2019). Tenure. Issues. American Association of University Professors. Retrieved from https://www.aaup.org/issues/tenure
Strait, D. (2019). Articulate Faculty Rights. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336445041_Articulate_Faculty_Rights
Carvalho, T., & Diogo, S. (2018). Non-tenured teachers, higher education. Encyclopedia of international higher education systems and institutions , 1-5.
Shulman, S. (2017). Contingency in higher education: Evidence and explanation. Academic Labor: Research and Artistry , 1 (1), 3.
Team, C. (2014). Collective bargaining - definition, meaning, examples, and types. Retrieved from https://legaldictionary.net/collective-bargaining/
Wilson, R. (2010 July). Tenure, RIP: What the vanishing status means for the future of education. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/Tenure-RIP/66114
