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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (98128)	2/1/2005 5:42:16 PM
From: Bridge Player	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793911

I also would like to know from a knowledgeable source what conditions might typically be found in the contract of a tenured professor. For example, could the Board of Regents of a university, or the department chair, for example, dismiss a tenured professor for such reasons as flagrant public comments, or conduct detrimental to the university, or other such reasons? For example, at a minimum, I would think they could be dismissed if convicted of a felony. Although I know it can be difficult and would raise a firestorm among many free speech advocates and other civil libertarians, I would be surprised if some such clause were not present in most employment contracts, even those of tenured professors. Anyone? Edit: From the website of the American Federation of Teachers: "Tenure is not a lifetime job guarantee; it is a right to due process. It means that a college or university cannot fire a tenured professor without presenting evidence that the professor is incompetent or the institution is in grave financial difficulty. Aside from facing the possibility of dismissal, the teaching, research and service performance of tenured professors continues to be evaluated throughout their careers for, among other things, promotion, salary increases, grants, professional development funds and sabbaticals. It is not easy to remove a tenured professor by fiat; management bears the burden of proof in a quasi-judicial process surrounded by due-process protections. That is done purposely, to protect free expression in the academic community, based on society’s recognition that colleges have to be places where students and scholars can explore and debate issues. Inevitably, this will sometimes mean that professors challenge established interests as well as the conventional wisdom of any field. Tenure gives faculty the independence to speak out about contentious matters and, yes, to challenge the administration on issues of new curriculum and quality, without putting their jobs on the line. Surveys show that tenured faculty generally publish more, serve on more academic committees—and also teach more, and more effectively—than their untenured colleagues. As an employment practice, tenure helps bring the country’s best minds into higher education—a field that is not highly lucrative. Tenure serves to provide continuity and stability to the educational program. Consequently, AFT is fighting at every level to ensure that tenure policies are maintained and that institutions and states are working to rebuild a corps of full-time faculty that have the opportunity to move their way up the tenure ranks." aft.org Unfortunately, that still doesn't quite answer the question.

To: Ilaine who wrote (98128)	2/1/2005 11:21:57 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793911

But Summers is not a tenured professor, he's an administrator, and administrators can be fired. I understand he is a tenured radical who was department head. He just lost the "Head" spot. Forget what you have read about the ending and go see "Million Dollar Baby." Best Picture of the year. Hillary Swank will win Best Actress for it or there is no justice. Morgan Freeman is outstanding and may win "Best Supporting Actor." Of course, I have never seen him in anything where he wasn't. I think Robert Redford summed it up best when he said Morgan has "soul." Eastwood was better than usual. I see why they put him up for "Best Actor," but I don't expect him to win.