Pondering Professors: Does Tenure Affect Quality of Education?

Whether you choose to study at a public or private college, the quality of teaching you receive is critical, and the academic experiences for those teaching you can play a major role. Tenure, for instance, can play a major role in the quality of your professors. Here's a primer to help you understand how educational institutions hire and manage their faculty.

Tenure Can Affect Teaching Quality

At traditional, campus-based universities, the tenure system protects academic freedom by preventing professors from losing their jobs without an extremely good reason. This system is set up to allow professors to have some job security and exercise their academic muscles without worrying about waking up without a job.

Tenure track faculty fall into three groups:

  • Assistant Professor: An Assistant Professor has no tenure and no job security. After spending six or more years getting an advanced degree, an assistant professor can be fired at any time and without cause. Little wonder, then, that Assistant Professors generally work 70 or more hours a week, as they research and publish, design courses, grade papers, and serve on committees.
  • Associate Professor: Tenure generally accompanies promotion to Associate Professor. Promotion and tenure are based on the candidate's teaching, research, and service (both to the university and to the public). The proportions of teaching, research, and service vary, according to the type of university. They are generally spelled out in the school's online faculty handbook, so interested students can find out this information.
  • Full Professor: Advancement to Full Professor, the highest status a professor can hold, is usually based on professional achievement outside the scope of the professor's campus alone. Promotion to "Full" is generally based on the professor's publication and reputation among peers, whose letters of support are crucial for this final promotion.
From a student's point of view, the tenure system is both beneficial and detrimental:

The Benefits of Tenured Faculty

Sure, job security is great for a professor, but there are benefits for their students, too.
  • Tenured faculty contribute to the stature of the university and their departments. The name of a respected faculty member can launch a student's career or open the doors to graduate study in a prestigious program.
  • Tenured professors can express their ideas without worrying about offending the administration or members of special interest groups.
  • The academic quality and rank of a university reflects the reputation of its professors and is highly important to tenure-granting institutions. Prestige attracts research money and opportunities for both professors and students.

The Risks of Tenured Professors

While academic freedom among professors can enhance a college student's education, there are other considerations that could negatively impact the quality of your education.
  • Tenured professors are not necessarily held accountable for their teaching, nor is their academic status affected by student evaluations.
  • A tenured professor may choose to rest on his or her laurels rather than keep abreast of developments in the field.
  • Professors working toward tenure may focus less on teaching and more on publishing.

Tenured Faculty Can Signal Quality Education

Although tenure is still a popular system in traditional university education, it is less widespread than it used to be. According to the American Association of University Professors, only 35 percent of all university faculty had obtained tenure or were eligible for it in 2003. Compare this figure to 57 percent almost 30 years ago.

Today, many schools rely on non-tenure-track, part time, or temporary faculty. These "rent-a-profs" generally receive much lower salaries than their tenure-track peers, and they usually bear the responsibility for general education and introductory courses. This difference means that there is much greater competition for tenured positions. In order to guarantee a quality academic experience, students are well-advised to seek out institutions with a large percentage of tenured professors.

Finding the Faculty that Fits

Different types of professors may be better suited for different types of students. For example, students hoping to study the Liberal Arts might find traditional professors more broadly experienced. Others who are looking for a focused, career-oriented program could take advantage of the real-world experience and current connections of part time instructors.

Although it is unlikely that a program's faculty will exactly match with the interests of every student, it is still important to find a group of teachers with similar interests to provide a personalized educational experience on campus.

Sources
"Instructors seeking tenure track," The Morning Call Online
National Education Association