Tenure and its Discontents: The Worst Form of Employment Relationship Save All of the Others

Abstract

This article attempts to defend academic tenure and offer some recommendations to make it more effective. There is nothing unique in this effort. What might be new to the discussion is the belief that the catalyst to making tenure more flexible and effective lies not with the professorate relinquishing some of its rights, but with university administrators creating an environment of expectations and incentives for tenured faculty, developing the fortitude and procedures to make tenure work as it should, and encouraging faculty to exercise the responsibilities that accompany their status.