The Faculty Senate recently passed a resolution that will change the policies that require temporary faculty to be tenured after their fifth year at AU, according to Richard Bennett, a professor in the School of Public Affairs and a former faculty senator.
Bennett drafted a proposal, approved approximately 3-to-1 in the Faculty Senate, which will allow select temporary faculty who have been with the university for five years to remain on staff without being tenured. It stated: "A limited number of temporary faculty may be appointed to non-tenure line multi-year contracts because of their demonstrated and extraordinary teaching skills, their professional expertise and/or their unique contributions to program development."
These contracts will range from two to five years, at which time they will be considered for renewal, Bennett said. Multi-year temporary faculty "shall have the protection of academic freedom and be evaluated with regard for their teaching excellence and other professional contributions," according to the proposal.
Liz Black, a sophomore in the School of International Service, said the increase in options for temporary faculty is good for those who teach well.
"I think if they're doing a good job, they should be allowed a couple of options," Black said.
Before the adoption of this proposal, the faculty manual maintained that any temporary faculty member must have his or her contract renewed annually until his fifth year. After filling a temporary position for five years, temporary faculty would either be offered tenure or fired from his or her position.
Although temporary professors are sometimes offered tenure, Bennett said some do not want to go through the process of maintaining tenure. In order to remain tenured, a professor must meet certain criteria. A tenured professor must teach, be published and serve the community, Bennett said.
There have only been 27 tenure positions authorized in the past four years, he said.
Bennett said an individual who has had his or her contract renewed for five years is an exceptional teacher. Many temporary faculty members bring a "wealth of knowledge to the classroom" as well as community involvement and student interaction, he added.
"Why reward them in their fifth year by firing them?" Bennett said.
Emily Bair, a senior in the School of Communication, said that while she's had good tenured professors, she's had others whose teaching styles seemed to decline as their jobs became more secure.
"It makes no sense that you can teach well for five years and then get told to leave," Bair said.
Black said one of the tenured professors she had was not a good professor, but whether or not this was due to his tenure is unknown.
"I'm not sure if it was because he just wasn't a great teacher or if it was because he felt he was safe in his tenure position," she said.
Jonathan Loesburg, chair of the Faculty Senate and a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the main goal of the resolution is to "hire faculty with different experiences ... and keep those who are talented teachers."
Bennett said several other universities have adopted such policies, including Brown, Duke, Yale and Brandeis.
The new resolution will "allow us to maintain exceptional teachers who bring value-added benefits to AU in terms of students' fields and the development of programs," he said.
Loesberg said the resolution has been sent to the Committee for Faculty Relations for rewriting. It is expected to be applied during the next hiring season in the spring, Bennett said.
