Post-Tenure Review as if it Mattered
35 Pages Posted: 31 Jul 2008 Last revised: 10 Dec 2008
Date Written: July 16, 2008
Abstract
At most law schools, post-tenure review is a formality, designed to satisfy a central administration that someone is paying attention to faculty quality. Like any assessment process, post-tenure review can consist of meaningless box-checking. Or, properly designed, it can play a key role in both individual development and institutional success. This Article examines how real post-tenure review might work. It features a) a faculty-wide process of values - identification designed to highlight the behaviors that a faculty wishes to promote and reward and (b) a collegial process by which faculty members are comparatively ranked, much as we currently rank students (top 10%, next 20%, next 40%, etc.) on each item. The Article offers detailed examples of how this process might operate, including checklists, forms, and compensation guidelines. It then considers the inevitable opposition that such a process would face.
Keywords: Law Schools, tenure, post-tenure review
JEL Classification: K00, K10
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation