Conservatives take aim at tenure for university professors

[Satchel 6908]

I don’t think they’re going to let this go. 
 

https://tulsaworld.com/ap/national/conservatives-take-aim-at-tenure-for-university-professors/article_eda87c3e-f4fd-5751-b4f3-937972a8a0e6.html

[Nivek 16861]

Um, paywall sites are not going to get much traction. 

[Bookman 4611]

I can read it just fine.

[Js1 85110]

So conservative states will kill tenure, leading to more professors heading to liberal states that actually value education, just causing more brain drain in brain dead red states?

[Satchel 6908]

5 minutes ago, Js1 said:

So conservative states will kill tenure, leading to more professors heading to liberal states that actually value education, just causing more brain drain in brain dead red states?

That’s kinda how I see it as well. Won’t be long before Boebert is teaching The Political Process at a&m.

[TheStoicPaisano 9904]

Alongside KarenKeyLargo

Edited January 9, 2023 by TheStoicPaisano

[deac_tracy 513]

So glad I moved out of TX. Can't imagine living in a state where the state's university education is controlled by a Rush Limbaugh wannabe who's not even Texan.

Dannie Goeb is gonna force professors to take an oath of allegiance like Mussolini did, isn't he?

[Js1 85110]

28 minutes ago, Satchel said:

That’s kinda how I see it as well. Won’t be long before Boebert is teaching The Political Process at a&m.

If she had lost re-election, she’d probably be heading up Dan Patrick’s Liberty Institute at UT

[Hermanator 6944]

So how long until my UT degree looks like one from Costco University? 

Glad I got what I needed out if it before the dumbz hit

[Bullneck 18987]

1 hour ago, Nivek said:

Um, paywall sites are not going to get much traction. 

You just have to turn off your ad blocker:

Quote

Conservatives take aim at tenure for university professors
In several red states around the country, conservative officials say it's time to reconsider tenure for university professors
By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH - Associated Press Jan 8, 2023 Updated 11 hrs ago  0

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — When Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asked Texas colleges to disavow critical race theory, the University of Texas faculty approved a resolution defending their freedom to decide for themselves how to teach about race.

Patrick said he took it as a message to “go to hell.”

In turn, Patrick, a Republican, said it was time to consider holding the faculty accountable, by targeting one of the top perks of their jobs.

“Maybe we need to look at tenure,” Patrick said at a news conference in November.

It’s a sentiment being echoed by conservative officials in red states across the country. The indefinite academic appointments that come with tenure — the holy grail of university employment — have faced review from lawmakers or state oversight boards in at least half a dozen states, often presented as bids to rein in academics with liberal views.
The trend reflects how conservative scrutiny of instruction related to race, gender and sexuality has extended from schools to higher education. But budget considerations also play a role. Tenured faculty numbers have been declining even in more liberal states. Universities are hiring more part-time, adjunct instructors amid declines in financial support from state governments.

Traditionally, tenured professors can be terminated only under extreme circumstances, such as professional misconduct or a financial emergency. Advocates for tenure say it is a crucial component of academic freedom — especially as controversy grows over scholarly discussions about history and identity.

Without tenure, faculty are “liable to play it safe when it comes time to have a classroom discussion about a difficult topic,” said Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University Professors.

But in difficult financial and political times, even tenured professors may not be guaranteed employment.

In Kansas, Emporia State University this fall cut 33 faculty — most of them tenured — using an emergency pandemic measure that allowed universities to bypass policies on staff terminations to balance budgets.

Max McCoy, Emporia State’s sole journalism professor, penned a column that began, “I may be fired for writing this” — before learning this would be his last year teaching at the school.

“This is a purge,” he said. He said all the fired professors were “Democrats or liberal in our thinking.”

University spokesperson Gwen Larson said individual professors were not targeted for dismissal. She said the cuts followed a review of how demand for academic programs is changing and “where we needed to move in the future.

Attacks on higher education have been fueled by a shift in how conservatives see colleges and universities, said Jeremy Young, of the free-expression group PEN America. The share of Republicans and independent-leaning Republicans who said higher education was having a negative effect on the country grew from 37% to 59% from 2015 to 2019 in Pew Research Center polling.

In Texas, university administrators are working behind the scenes to squash anticipated legislation that would target tenure, fearful it will hurt recruitment, said Jeff Blodgett, president of the Texas Conference of AAUP.

Some people already aren’t applying for university jobs because of the discussions, said Pat Heintzelman, president of the Texas Faculty Association.

In Florida, a federal judge in November blocked the “Stop-WOKE" Act, a law pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in colleges. The governor’s office is appealing the injunction. Compliance with the law would be part of the criteria for evaluating tenured professors under a review process that the university system’s Board of Governors is weighing.

“They’ve latched onto the idea that many totalitarian regimes have done over the years, which is if you can stop students from learning about ideas that a political party in power disagrees with, that is one way to stop those ideas from existing in the society at all,” said Andrew Gothard, president of United Faculty of Florida.

DeSantis, though, has questioned the argument that tenure provides academic freedom.

“If anything, it’s created more of an intellectual orthodoxy where people that have dissenting views, it's harder for them to be tenured in the first place," he said at a news conference in April.

In Louisiana, lawmakers set up a task force to study tenure with the Republican-backed resolution noting that students should be confident that courses are free of “political, ideological, religious, or antireligious indoctrination.” Professors raised concerns until they learned the task force’s members were mostly tenure supporters.

In Georgia, the state’s Board of Regents approved a policy that made it easier to remove tenured faculty who have had a negative performance review. Elsewhere, legislation to ban or restrict tenure also has been introduced in recent years in Iowa, South Carolina and Mississippi, but failed to win passage.

The pushback follows decades of declining rates of tenured faculty. According to the AAUP, 24% of faculty members held full-time tenured appointments in fall 2020, compared with 39% in fall 1987, the first year for which directly comparable information is available.

Part-time college instructors rarely receive benefits. They frequently must travel from campus to campus to cobble together a living.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Caprice Lawless, who wrote the “Adjunct Cookbook,” replete with recipes that poorly compensated Ph.D.s can cobble together with food pantry staples.

“I’ve taken Ph.D.s to foodbanks and watched them cry because they can’t get enough food for their family,” said Lawless, who said she served as a social worker of sorts before retiring two years ago from Front Range Community College in Westminster, Colorado.

The opposition to tenure has united conservatives for different reasons: Not all share the same concerns about “woke higher education,” said Marc Stein, a San Francisco State University history professor, who has written about the shift to part-time faculty.

“But,” he said, “if you attack the ‘wokeness’ of higher education and that leads to declining funding for higher education, then economic conservatives are happy.”

Tenure exploded after World War II when it helped with recruitment as the GI Bill sent enrollment soaring, said Sol Gittleman, a former provost of Tufts University who has written on the issue. Lately, the country has overproduced Ph.D.s, said Gittleman, who predicts tenure will largely disappear in the coming decades outside the top 100 colleges and universities.

“Critical race theory — that's an excuse,” he said. “If there was a shortage of faculty, you wouldn’t hear that.”
 

 

[Beau Vine 54003]

I honestly think tenure is very overrated.  It's simply non-monetary compensation.  

It saves universities money by reducing faculty turnover. 

[Willfully Horn 7916]

People will go along with bullshit to keep their job. While there’s plenty of bullshit that comes with a faculty position, having tenure usually means denying the truth/affirming falsehoods isn’t part of that bullshit; because one’s job doesn’t depend on doing so.

[Nivek 16861]

12 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

I honestly think tenure is very overrated.  It's simply non-monetary compensation.  

It saves universities money by reducing faculty turnover. 

Job security isn't overrated.  It allows someone to know they are not going to take a financial hit, for buying a house, car, etc.  

[lemonlime 5503]

12 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

I honestly think tenure is very overrated.  It's simply non-monetary compensation.  

It saves universities money by reducing faculty turnover. 

The big problem with this is it will chill faculty members' speech.  Good luck teaching any classes dealing with American history, sociology, climate science, or really anything in red state controlled by Christian extremists.

[Js1 85110]

6 minutes ago, lemonlime said:

The big problem with this is it will chill faculty members' speech.  Good luck teaching any classes dealing with American history, sociology, climate science, or really anything in red state controlled by Christian extremists.

Everything allegedly has such a liberal bias.  Not even sure things like math and engineering are safe.

['stache 21774]

Doesn't this come up every year? It's just another bs talking point to drive rage and keep morons voting for them without any intent of follow through. They are a do nothing party, they do nothing substantive, just posture for their idiot followers.

[lemonlime 5503]

9 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Everything allegedly has such a liberal bias.  Not even sure things like math and engineering are safe.

Can't wait till we have a generation of physicians who haven't studied women's health, gender dysphoria, evolution, vaccines, and germ theory.  

[lemonlime 5503]

4 minutes ago, 'stache said:

Doesn't this come up every year? It's just another bs talking point to drive rage and keep morons voting for them without any intent of follow through. They are a do nothing party, they do nothing substantive, just posture for their idiot followers.

That's what everyone said about overturning Roe v. Wade.

[RDCanecutter 26282]

Variations on this happen all over. At my wife's school, a branch of the state juco system, they are constantly sent mandates from Montgomery (Muscogee word meaning "pompous lack of creativity") trying to cut teaching to the bone AND make the scary professors kiss the ring. Typically delivered by some aged keg-stander in a suit who starts off "as a BUSINESSMAN..." As a businessman? What's your fucking business? Because you look like a government plug to me, Biff.

Seriously, Montgomery recently proposed that part of faculty evaluation should be if the faculty showed proper respect, courtesy, forelock-pulling, etc to their Admin. This was approved by one school in the system that seems, well, dumb, where admin were miffed about lack of respect for their authoriTAH. My wife's school, on the other hand, is in wild bolshevik Birmingham with a former JAG president, not standing for that.

Until one day when we get a Montgomery BIDNESSman, I guess.

But I rant. Even if tenure never gets touched anywhere, universities are like a big tree slowly rotting at the roots. Oh there's money, too much damn money. But it's trending towards Adjuncts, who certainly know more than the damn Grad Students teaching 101, and even fulltime jobs aren't tenure track. Then on top of that, more gets shoved into online classes. Even before the pandemic I would head for class thinking the Doc in the Box model was mainly ceremonial.

['stache 21774]

11 minutes ago, lemonlime said:

That's what everyone said about overturning Roe v. Wade.

SCOTUS had to issue a ruling and were itching to do so the second RBG died. Politicians don't have to do shit, and the right has mastered that part of the game.

[Foosters 17734]

1 minute ago, 'stache said:

SCOTUS had to issue a ruling and were itching to do so the second RBG died. Politicians don't have to do shit, and the right has mastered that part of the game.

Huh? The right (politicians) have passed laws banning abortion in light of the SCOTUS decision. 

[lemonlime 5503]

4 minutes ago, 'stache said:

SCOTUS had to issue a ruling and were itching to do so the second RBG died. Politicians don't have to do shit, and the right has mastered that part of the game.

Sure.  And if politicians hadn't enacted laws outlawing abortion and creating crimes for women and their health care providers, the SCOTUS ruling wouldn't matter worth a damn.

[Beau Vine 54003]

8 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Even if tenure never gets touched anywhere, universities are like a big tree slowly rotting at the roots. Oh there's money, too much damn money. But it's trending towards Adjuncts, who certainly know more than the damn Grad Students teaching 101, and even fulltime jobs aren't tenure track.

I think this is more why they want to eliminate tenure.  There seems to be a heavy supply of non-PhD's willing to work dirt cheap, especially in the softer sciences.

['stache 21774]

A bunch of those abortion laws were passed before RBG died and before the case was active. They had a trigger mechanism in case Roe was overturned but the feeling was that it was sound, until RGB died. I just see it different. They aren't going to strip tenure. They know that it will kill the major colleges in the state. I'll buy everyone a pizza if they actually do anything other than bitch about "librul" professors.

[Beau Vine 54003]

2 minutes ago, 'stache said:

They know that it will kill the major colleges in the state.

Do you have any evidence at all that they want to avoid this?  Because I can point out quite a few things that make it seem like it's their goal...

[Nivek 16861]

38 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Everything allegedly has such a liberal bias.  Not even sure things like math and engineering are safe.

we need to ditch the SI units and go back to cubits.

['stache 21774]

1 minute ago, Beau Vine said:

Do you have any evidence at all that they want to avoid this?  Because I can point out quite a few things that make it seem like it's their goal...

I'm fully on the Brisket ledge, but this would be a bridge too far, they aren't going to let UT plummet down the rankings by stripping their best professors of tenure, they would bolt the second it gained any real legs.

[A-Tex Devil 2445]

Hmmmm……..   if they eliminated tenure at UT law 20 years ago I presume Lino Graglia’s racist/sexist ass would have been fired for some of the shit he said.  
 

No, they’d probably fire Sandy Levinson for thoughtfully, but academically, questioning the efficacy of the mechanics of the constitution.  

Edited January 9, 2023 by A-Tex Devil

[tx 3 putt 76400]

11 minutes ago, 'stache said:

I'm fully on the Brisket ledge, but this would be a bridge too far, they aren't going to let UT plummet down the rankings by stripping their best professors of tenure, they would bolt the second it gained any real legs.

those rankings don’t mean a thing to Danny Goeb if UT is a nest of liberal free thinkers !

[lemonlime 5503]

23 minutes ago, 'stache said:

A bunch of those abortion laws were passed before RBG died and before the case was active. They had a trigger mechanism in case Roe was overturned but the feeling was that it was sound, until RGB died. I just see it different. They aren't going to strip tenure. They know that it will kill the major colleges in the state. I'll buy everyone a pizza if they actually do anything other than bitch about "librul" professors.

They've been going around defunding libraries, purportedly for loaning books they don't approve of.   And laws interfering with elementary school teachers' ability to teach.  Why do you think they'll stop there?

[jimmyjazz 45560]

If there ever were a "slippery slope" concept, it's tenure.  It may be largely what Beau Vine says it is, but it's a concept rooted in the idea of freedom of expression in institutions of higher learning.

Sure, A&M and Aggies and most SEC fans couldn't give a fuck.  Fat, dumb, and stupid is no way to go through life.

[Js1 85110]

10 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

If there ever were a "slippery slope" concept, it's tenure.  It may be largely what Beau Vine says it is, but it's a concept rooted in the idea of freedom of expression in institutions of higher learning.

Sure, A&M and Aggies and most SEC fans couldn't give a fuck.  Fat, dumb, and stupid is no way to go through life.

Hey that's no way to talk about our future conference mates.  

[tx 3 putt 76400]

5 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Hey that's no way to talk about our future conference mates.  

the day ut fans chant ‘sec’ is the day it all starts collapsing 

[956 Worldwide 34444]

58 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Do you have any evidence at all that they want to avoid this?  Because I can point out quite a few things that make it seem like it's their goal...

Came here to post this. 
 

Have y’all checked voting trends among college educated voters? Not great for the GOP.  Even worse among non-white college educated (in other words, the people who most need public colleges). The elite GOP class doesn’t need state schools, they can go private. And they don’t want anyone else going to college. 

[956 Worldwide 34444]

Academia and the press are the first targets of authoritarians the world over. They are institutions that look for facts and that is their real fault. 
 

Republicans hate research that shows their bullshit tax policies or immigration ideas or whatever don’t work FAR more than they hate any wokeness, I guarantee that. 

[tx 3 putt 76400]

34 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Came here to post this. 
 

Have y’all checked voting trends among college educated voters? Not great for the GOP.  Even worse among non-white college educated (in other words, the people who most need public colleges). The elite GOP class doesn’t need state schools, they can go private. And they don’t want anyone else going to college. 

Tenured profs brain washing and grooming those poor lost souls !!!

probably encouraging them to go watch porn !!!!!

 

[jimmyjazz 45560]

7 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Tenured profs brain washing and grooming those poor lost souls !!!

probably encouraging them to go watch porn !!!!!

I picked the wrong major.

[atomheartbevo 89449]

54 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Tenured profs brain washing and grooming those poor lost souls !!!

probably encouraging them to go watch porn !!!!!

The good news is, Louisiana is providing a model for the porn problem.

And even more good news, we are probably not very long from college students in Texas being require to do the Pledge of Allegiance every day.

[tx 3 putt 76400]

1 minute ago, atomheartbevo said:

The good news is, Louisiana is providing a model for the porn problem.

And even more good news, we are probably not very long from college students in Texas being require to do the Pledge of Allegiance every day.

Texas will pass the Florida law that profs have to toe the party line 

[jimmyjazz 45560]

5 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

And even more good news, we are probably not very long from college students in Texas being require to do the Pledge of Allegiance every day.

UT-Austin Freshman English, 2028:  (spoilered for language)

Spoiler