Faculty Tenure
A Resource
List
Prepared by the
Faculty Advisory Council
of the Maryland Higher Education Commission
AAUP
| College and University Policies | NEA | Publications
What is tenure, and why should anyone
care?
Since its founding in 1915, the American Association of University Professors
has defended tenure as a necessary condition of employment for those who
teach in higher education institutions. Some outside academe (and also some
within) have questioned the purpose and/or the fairness of tenure, especially in
times of fiscal uncertainty. Because tenure has come under fire, it is
important for anyone in a decision-making position to know exactly what tenure
is and what it is not. (See
The Truth About
Tenure in Higher Education below).
The AAUP's staunch defense of tenure
is, quite simply, to protect academic freedom, which as a principle
itself is explained in some detail in the documents that are linked below. (See
particularly AAUP's 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and
Tenure, linked below). According to the AAUP, "Tenure, briefly
stated, is an arrangement whereby faculty members, after successful completion
of a period of probationary service, can be dismissed only for adequate cause or
other possible circumstances and only after a hearing before a faculty
committee. After the expiration of a probationary period, teachers or
investigators should have permanent or continuous tenure, and their service
should be terminated only for adequate cause, except in the case of retirement
for age, or under extraordinary circumstances because of financial exigencies."
The following links are provided as a
resource for those in higher education, particularly faculty members, who wish
to learn more about the history and process of the practice. In addition to
policy statements about the need for tenure (by both the AAUP and the National
Education Association, the NEA), faculty members on the Faculty Advisory
Council who represent Maryland colleges and universities have provided links to
descriptions of their institutions' tenure policies. Visitors to this web
resource page are welcome to contact the Web manager with broken link alerts, or
with links to their own colleges' policies.
American
Association of University Professors (AAUP)
Tenure and/or Extended Contract Policies of Maryland Colleges and Universities:
-
Anne Arundel
Community College (Arnold, Maryland):
Policies
and Procedures for Conversion to Tenure-Track
- Baltimore City Community College.
Faculty
Contracts (NOTE: As of 1990, BCCC has had no faculty tenure policy.)
- Carroll Community College. (NOTE: Carroll
CC faculty are not eligible for tenure since the college separated from
Catonsville CC in 1993. Catonsville CC faculty with tenure who moved to the newly
established Carroll CC lost tenure status when they transferred).
- College of Southern
Maryland (La Plata, Maryland):
Tenure and Contract Renewal (from the CSM Full-time Faculty Handbook)
- Frostburg State University:
Tenure/Permanent Status Application Procedures
- Howard
Community College (Columbia, Maryland):
- Johns Hopkins
University:
- Loyola University Maryland
(Baltimore): Rank
and Tenure Policy Statement (July 2011)
- Maryland Institute College of Arts
(MICA) faculty contracts are non-rank and non-tenure. However, click on this
document which describes the contract cycle and policies protecting academic
freedom in ways similar to tenure:
- Montgomery
College (Maryland):
Full-Time Faculty Collective Bargaining Agreement (see Article 4:
Faculty Appointments, p. 10). MC does not have tenure per se for
appointments subsequent to the creation of the Faculty Union in the 1980s, but
MC has tenured faculty whose tenure continues to be recognized as part of that
agreement. Other appointments are clearly delineated.
-
Towson University Policy on Appointment, Rank and Tenure of Faculty (#02-01.00)
- University of
Maryland, College Park (UMCP):
- University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).
The following links to the Tenure and Promotion policy in UMBC’s
Faculty Handbook.
- University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).
Policy and
Procedures on Promotion and Tenure of Faculty. 11/25/08 (rev. 1/11/11;
updated: 2/14/12)
- University of
Maryland University College (UMUC): Policy on Faculty Appointment, Rank and Promotion.
(Policy 181.00):
http://www.umuc.edu/policies/facultypolicies/fac18100.cfm
National
Education Association (NEA)
Other Publications
on Faculty Tenure:
updated:
May 8, 2012
Faculty Advisory Council
of the Maryland Higher Education Commission