Tenured
faculty rates to rise
Budget:
The Cal State Long Beach intends to increase
tenured faculty by 25 percent, increasing
salary costs.
By
Jeff Overley
On-line Forty-Niner
Despite
a 40 percent increase in student tuition
and expected budget cuts of $6 million for
the upcoming fiscal year, Cal State Long
Beach plans to move forward with a past
decision to increase the amount of tenure
and tenure-track faculty, said Armando Contreras,
executive assistant to the president.
The
decision is based partially on demographics.
A large number of tenured professors are
at or above retirement age and must be replaced,
Contreras said.
Also,
the College Faculty Association and the
CSU Board of Trustees agreed last year to
attempt to raise the ratio of tenure and
tenure-track faculty from less than 50 percent
to at least 75 percent by 2010, according
to Academic Senate meeting minutes from
Sept. 19, 2002.
Tenure-track
teachers are typically hired as assistant
professors. After six years of annual evaluations
by tenured faculty, they may be elevated
to the position of associate professor.
After another six years of similar evaluations
they may be recommended for a full professorship.
Aside from the job security of a full professorship,
both of these promotions usually come with
seven and a half percent raises.
Assuming
the goal of 75 percent, or 1,500 tenure
and tenure-track professors, is met, the
corresponding pay raises that accompany
the change would amount to at least $3 million
annually. The exact figure is probably higher
because this estimate is based on the average
pay to teachers in non-technical disciplines.
These
financial costs may translate into educational
benefits. "I think you want more than
half of your faculty to be tenured for reasons
of stability," Contreras said. "With
[job] security comes the ability [for professors
to] express their academic interests, to
seek truth, to explore ideas without feeling
their job is at risk."
Contreras'
sentiments were echoed by Kathleen Cohn,
associate vice president of academic affairs
and academic personnel. "I think when
you have tenure, you have an incentive for
teachers to demonstrate their continued
growth and development," she said.
Tenured
professors also serve the vital role of
judging candidates for tenure. That screening
is essential to ensuring quality instruction,
Cohn said.
The
twelve-year process of moving from assistant
professor to professor involves "mini"
and full reviews that alternate on an annual
basis.
At
these reviews, teachers provide a written
narrative of their most recent achievements
in areas of instruction, scholarship and
professional service.
Instruction
refers to classroom teaching, student advising
and related activities involving curriculum.
Scholarship means that aspiring professors
must demonstrate intellectual growth in
their discipline and professional service
entails contributions to the community and
university that correlate to the instructor's
particular field of expertise.
Upon
recommendation by a committee of tenured
faculty, a teacher must then gain approval
from their college's dean and the provost.
Faculty
differed in their characterization of the
tenure process. "Yeah, [the process]
is difficult," said Elizabeth Deschenes,
a professor of criminal justice. "I
worked hard for [tenure]."
"I
wouldn't say it's difficult," associate
economics professor, Wade Martin said, "It's
comprehensive."
Once tenure is attained, reviews occur only
once every five years. These evaluations
are not as "anxiety provoking,"
Deschenes said. But for that very reason
problems may arise once a full professorship
has been acquired.
"It's
hard to remove someone whose time has come,"
Deschenes said. "I tell people, 'When
my time has come, let me know.'"
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