Submitted by Greta De Jong, UNR-NFA Acting President

At the conclusion of the NSHE Board of Regents meeting on September 6, Regent Byron Brooks proposed discussion of “a policy regarding post-tenure review that’s linked to effective teaching and revision for policy regarding the termination of tenured faculty” as agenda items for future meetings. It is possible that Regent Brooks is not aware of the processes that already exist for terminating the employment of faculty who fail to do their jobs. However, given the attacks on higher education that are taking place nationwide, NSHE faculty should prepare to defend ourselves against misguided assumptions and policies that undermine tenure.

Many people believe tenure means faculty members can’t be fired, giving them privileges that are not granted to employees in other professions and removing any accountability for bad behavior. This is not an accurate perception of how tenure works. Tenured faculty can be fired for unsatisfactory performance, for financial reasons, and because of changes in an institution’s mission or curriculum, just as in other professions.

The purpose of tenure is to not to shield lazy professors from the consequences that would normally result from substandard performance. It is to encourage the production of new knowledge by allowing faculty to research and teach about topics they choose to investigate without fear of being fired if their findings upset people who may disagree with them. Tenure protects the dissemination of ideas from across the political spectrum and ensures intellectual and ideological diversity on college campuses and in public discourse.

Professors derive both personal and professional satisfaction from the pursuit of knowledge and sharing their findings with students and the community. For most of us, this is a lifelong mission, not something that anyone expects or wants to end after achieving tenure. Moreover, there already is post–tenure review for faculty at NSHE institutions, as set out in Title 2, Chapter 5.13 of the Board of Regents Handbook. All tenured faculty are evaluated annually and an overall rating of Unsatisfactory two years in a row is cause for termination of employment.

Attempts to undermine tenure and political interference in teaching at public universities in states like Florida and Indiana have led to an exodus of faculty from those institutions. Regents and other elected officials should not further demoralize NSHE faculty by making them feel that their academic freedom is being threatened, which will cause more of them to consider retiring or leaving. It will be difficult to recruit new faculty to replace them without strong protections for tenure and the right to research and teach on topics of their choice.

All faculty, regardless of tenure status, must be able to pursue new knowledge in their areas of expertise without fear of reprisals. At the same time, tenure and academic freedom are not shields for making research claims that lack evidence or using class time to express political views that are unrelated to the subject matter. The process for awarding tenure, which includes rigorous peer review by external readers, ensures that professors adhere to standards for scholarship established in their fields. The American Association of University Professors’ Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure states: “Teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject.”

Nationwide, tenure has already been weakened by the decline in the number of faculty positions that are even eligible for it. As tenured professors leave or retire, institutions often replace them with part-time or contingent faculty who lack the protections that tenure provides. The precarious employment position of these faculty incentivizes them to engage in self-censorship, make their courses less rigorous, and inflate grades to appease students and administrators who care more about graduation rates than what students are actually learning.

These practices lower academic standards and leave students ill-prepared to join the workforce or participate as informed, responsible citizens in our democracy. The American Federation of Teachers recommends in its Real Solutions for Higher Education expanding tenured faculty positions to counterbalance these trends and improve teaching effectiveness. Nevadans who truly care about quality teaching and learning should be promoting and enhancing access to tenure, not trying to undermine it.