How can we reform the STEM tenure system for the 21st Century?
T. Prabhakar Clement
PNAS August 4, 2022; 119 (33) e2207098119
On April 19, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law an academic tenure reform bill that requires all tenured faculty in Florida to be reviewed by the board of directors every five years (1). A few months ago, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick stated that one of his top priorities is to eliminate tenure at all public universities in Texas; he also said that for already-tenured professors, the tenure review cycle would be changed from every six years to every year
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Figure: Reforming the tenure system to make it more accountable will require difficult conversations that explore novel ideas. Image credit: Dave Cutler (artist).
Such high-profile political initiatives are a clear indication that the academic tenure system in the United States, a wellspring of outstanding scholars and landmark scientific innovations in the last century, is under growing public scrutiny. It’s time to reform the system to ensure continued public trust in the academic enterprise. The scientific community must take these discussions seriously and engage in this important debate. Members of the academy should complete a careful self-evaluation to protect the basic integrity of the tenure system, not let it be weakened by various political processes. This will require difficult conversations that explore novel ideas for reforming the tenure system and making it more accountable. There are some important steps we must take to facilitate this debate—these could include, but are not limited to, discussing the possibility of introducing mandatory mid-career reviews and a tenure expiration date.
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