Can someone explain tenure to me?

Question

I always hear that professors need to attain tenure to have their job? And that it's difficult to attain or something?

If someone wanted to be a professor, how would they go about getting their tenure? What does that even me?

Can someone explain it to me, not through wikipedia, I tried looking it up but I just go confused. I don't understand what "tenure" is!!

Answer 1

Tenure is job security in schools and universities. If a professor is hired on a "tenure track," the university assumes he or she will accumulate a good record of teaching, research, and service. After a specified number of years (about 5), other professors vote on whether to grant tenure and promotion. If a professor is granted tenure, he can't be fired without special and difficult procedures. Usually, this means he can work for the university as long as he wants.

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Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 2

Simply stated - Senority. It's like being in a union the last one hired - is the first one fired. So what happens with these Univesrity Professor Types is that they want job security - like if your uncle Ed gets hired on at the Post Office - if he dosen't screw up to bad - he's basically got a job for life - with benefits - ya know? And the longer Uncle Ed is there, the more senority he has, the more they "bump him up" in grade & pay - a pretty sweet deal.

So these professors, most of them start of wanting to teach, but as time goes on, (pretty darn quick), a couple/three things are going on - ( 1 ) - our young prof looks around, and unless this guy is like Albert Einstien of something, he realizes he like one of a thousand young men & women trying for about 15 staff openings in "Great Schools", and - ( 2 ) - Even if he is lucky enough to beat out the other 800 candidates, the starting pay is crap which is why these young professors run around with long hait, patches on the elbows of their jacket, long ratty scarves around their necks, in cheap hight top felony shoes, riding bicycles in the dead of winter with a chronic red runny nose - they ain't got no money!!! ( 3 ) You've heard the phrase "Publish or Perish"? That's really what's tenure in many University Departments is all about.

You will find that Universities tend to show case their Staff, - especially in terms of their authoritative published works, and awards, and renown as Leaders in their field. This is the kind of thing that entices students to go to a school so that they can study under the great Professor XXX. However they soon discover that for the most part they never see Professor XXX, except at maybe the first Class of the new semesters or trimesters, when he introduces the course of study. The rest of the class is taught by his teaching assistants, - grad students. So where is the Professor? He is on a book signing tour, or on the lecture circuit, or he is working on his next book or treatise, or white paper.

This is a symbiotic relationship for the Professor and the university - he gets to keep the proceeds from his books and royalties, and the university pays him as he researches & writes his books & papers, and goes on tours and lectures, and trhe university gets his noteriety and claims his talents as their own.

And he has TENURE with the university be cause he is a rainmaker - (an income producer). They can't fire him, he has his hooks too deep (financially) into the school, he has a folling of rich benefactors who will write huge doanations to the school at his request, and as long as he is there to teach some classes, (to graduate students), and the keep publishing he will always have tenure.

Now some schools have a "vestment" requirement for non-extraordinary staff to become tenured. sometimes it's ten years, sometimes it's 7 years, it varies. Vestment sinply mean that both you as a professor and the shcool are investing in one another, - making a commitment to one another so to speak. You are proving yourself to the school & staff, and they are watching you, evaluating you, and giving you the opportunity to impress mthem or fail. You are encouraged to not only "do your job well", but to go beyond that, to show initative - write a book, get published, involve yourself in other campus activities, volunteer to teach remedial classes, Serve on Boards & committees, show that you want to belong, and are willing to go the extra mile to be a part of the university. If you "pass" the timeperiod, a selct "Tenure" committee votes you tenure or not, Once granted tenure unless you screw up - you are "IN". You have a position for life if you want it. If you are not granted tenure, the Tenure Board meets again next year, and you may be reviewed again, and again.But you are at risk until you attain tenure,

Hope this clarifies the issue for you. Good luck man.

Answer 3

Its basically the time after their probationary period. Most jobs have probationary periods, however most only last 6 months, teaching probationary period lasts about 5 years in most districts, or in this case universities.

When a teacher is a "probationary teacher" (new teacher) they can be let go for any reason. The school has to give tenured teachers a reason why they are being fired or are not resigning their contracts.