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 universities
J. Zimmerman, Christian Science Monitor, 2/28/2013
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04
1975
2005
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
faculty
admin
staff
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