Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / May 3, 2001, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page 2 • News • May 3, 2001 Corrections 4n our April 26 issue, the first paragraph should read: Last Saturday students gath ered in the North Area court yard for a celebration of the earth. Earthfest was sponsored by the Students for Peace and Justice, Blueprint and the Si erra Club. A variety of events, such as canoeing on Lake Mary Nell were provided by the sponsoring organizations. The event raised awareness, raised money for several charities and provided a day of celebration for the community. -Also in our April 26 issue, an article about Greek Week on page 17 said Leigh Rothgeb was chairman, it was actually Jamie Goebel of Sigma Kappa. Also in the same article, the candlelight vigil in front of Koury had nothing to do with Greek Week Awards. The Pendulum is committed to improving the quality of our reporting and relaying facts to our readers. We apologize for errors. Faculty viewpoint: tenureship and professionalization Dan Schrot Reporter How system became what it is- President Leo Lambert com mented on the system in place when he said, “the Board of Tmstees did a major study on the tenure system. The board determined that every academic department have a cap of tenuring 75 percent of the full time faculty. “The professional track was created for the faculty so they could benefit from professional develop ment funds, travel funds, and sab baticals, all of which are afforded to faculty members on the professional track,” Lambert said. What do professors have to do to achieve tenure or profes sional status- “The portfolio consists of a letter stating why they want tenure and why they think they deserve it. Their Curriculum Vitae, which con sists of their resume, courses taught, publications authored, academic ser vices, any scholarly presentations and service to the department. In addition to the C V, a professor must submit annual reports, a self-evalu ation, letters from the students, let ters from colleagues, annual evalu ation from the chair of the depart ment, summary of student evalua- I n f « « !« f n § 1 ^ 6 J» rs C « f i « g C « ti); » fl S t y The purpose of The Pendulum is to inform and entertain the Elon College community and provide a forum for ideas and opinions. Editor in Chief Taresa LaRock Mai^iiw Editor Jennifer Guarino News Editor Elizabeth Sudduth Editor ^aterson Focus Editor Katie Bonebralce A&E Editor Jason Chick Spo^ Editor Justin Mazzola Opinions Editor Joshua Davis AmtMt OpiiUoM Editor Rady Lai^ge BntiMK Manaecr Lauren Vilis Copy Editor Jessica Vitale Online Editor Alison Lacdc Adviicr Janna.Andetson Artist Mario Gallucci Columnists Cameron Dejong Brian McDonald Lauren Melfa Teresa Bateman Photographer Laura Flynn Reporters Dan Schrot ErinCunnigham Mandie Danielski iCaren Lungarelli Jessica Rivelli Sally Lynch J.T. Bowen Susan Duppstadt Erica Stanley GinaPancaii Michael Marlier Lisa McChristian Andrew Rollins ErikFurlan Jay Burnham TTie Pendulum is published each Thursday of the academic year. The advertising and editorial copy deadline is 5 p.m. the Monday before publication. Our offices are located on the northwest comer, second floor of Moseley Center. Send mail to: The Pendulum, Campus Box 2850, Elon College, N.C. 27244, or e-mail to penduium@elon.edu. Letters to the editor and guest columns are welcome and should be typed, double-spaced and signed with the author’s name, year in school and {^one number for verification. These submissions are also accepted as Word documents on disk or by e-mail. The Pendulum reserves the right to edit obscene or potentially libelous material. Lengthy letters or columns may have to be trimmed to fit All submissions become the property of The P^dulum and will not be returned. tions and an evaluation from the dean of the division. People on the professional track do exactly the same thing, which has the same standards for a two-year contract,” Laura Roselle, associate professor of political science. How tenured professors could be let go- “If the board of tmstees feels we would fall under financial exi gency crisis, individuals with ten ure are not guaranteed employ ment,” Tom Green, chair of aca demic council said. “Depending on how tenure is perceived, professors are tenured to the institution.” Elon has had reason for con traction before. Elon used to teach administrative and clerical duties. Until a time comes when there was no need for that major, and some thing had to be done with the pro fessors in that department. Louisi ana State University has only a ten ure track, and for awhile they had professors even though there was no real need for them. What do faculty members think of system- Jeff Pugh, professor of reli gion, said he does not like how the present system works. “I think the intention of the two-track system was a good one,” he said. “It would keep faculty that might have been let go in the other system. The re sults of this system have not been good. In the minds of faculty, this system creates a two-class system. If a person meets the standards in the professional track, it opens the same standards on the tenure track. If they went to a full tenure system, we would have been better off. It would have brought us more in line with the rest of higher education.” The two-track system “causes problems with recmiting,” Roselle said. “We want to be a good school. Good schools have tenure- they don’thave aprofessional track. I don’t know of any school that has a professional track,” Roselle said. When recmiting, “do you give ten ure to new person coming in or to people that have already been here.” The two track system causes issues with “equity and fairness.” The Office of Institutional re search published statistics of ten ured faculty among the Association of New American Colleges, which Elon is amember for 1999-2000, Of the 21 colleges and universities in the ANAC, Elon had the highest percentage of faculty on a non-ten ure track at 41.7 percent. The aver age percentage of faculty apart of ANAC institutions on non tenure tracks was 15.8 percent. Schools that are apart of the ANAC fall be tween the research institutions simi lar to the University of North Caro lina at Chapel Hill, and the institu tions that have a stronger focus on liberal arts and teaching. “Yes I am in favor of two track system,” Jim Barbour, associ ate professor of economics said. T ra- ditionally in academia there are two classes. There are those that are ten ured or are on the tenure track, and there are the adjuncts, the part- time faculty that teach a class or two at a time. At most institutions, there is a limit to the percentage of faculty that can be tenured. It varies from school to school, tenured faculty generally mn from 70-85 percent. Elon has approximately 75 percent of its faculty tenured,” Barbour said. Perception of professors that have professional status “On the professional track, the school is telling the professor, ‘you are not important,’ you are a sec- ond-class citizen. While the school asks them to make a long- term commitment to the students, the school will not make a long term commitment to them,” Roselle said. “I don’t think of professors on professionalization track as second class citizens in the least. I hope people don’t think I think of people on professional track as second class citizens or less desirable,” Lambert said. Period of time it takes for faculty to reach tenure or profes sional status- “Individuals come to Elon as an assistant professor can eam as much as two years credit from pre vious professional experience. It is common for most to come in with some level of credit. Some will be on the professional track for four or five years.. In cooperation with the dean and the chair of the depart ment, professors are placed on a four, five, or six year track for either professionalization or tenure,” Green said. “The new Dean here has re ceived full professor, and tenure at his other institution. The Promo tions, Tenure and Professional Sta tus Committee believed he met the standards of Elon. It is common practice at other colleges and uni versities for schools to grant tenure to academic administrators,” Lam bert said. Consequences and benefits- Tenure allows faculty to be free and explore ideas. Getting ideas is associated with the tenure sys tem. If you try stuff and the admin istration does not like it, you are gone, faculty memters are afraid to bring up this issue. This is a com plaint a lot of people make. A ran dom professor can, if a strong insti tution a professor will remain in contact with faculty and will be dedicated to the students. The ben efits of tenure far out weigh the negatives. “If there is an 85 percent cap instead of a 75 percent cap of full time faculty and if a department has 10 full-time and five part-time eight can be tenured, leaving; seven that can be let go. The tmstees want room for eight to be laid off, they will reduce the full-time people to nine, 80 percent of nine is seven, it will be hard for departments to ten ure more faculty,” Barbour said. “While a professor is tenured to the department, it is possible to eliminate tenured positions. All we have to save a basic level of pro grams, we cannot eliminate a de partment, I cannot imagine Elon would be in that position,” Lambert said. Perceptions that professors have who have reached profes sional status have- “The perception that if people criticize the system, they are being disloyal is absolutely false. Person ally, I want Elon to be the best it can possibly be, and I want students to receive the best education they can get. This two track system stands in the way of that,” Roselle said. Tenure does not protect pro fessors from professional malfea sance, professional error of judg ment or falsifiying student reports. There are certain things in a tenure system faculty have to be account able for. Tenure will guarantee the college will not fire you because you have mn afoul of someone. “If a tenured faculty is let go, they did something really, really wrong,” Pugh said. “Faculty scared of being fired or in fear of being punished for practicing various methods and for criticizing the system are wrong. They are in no danger of losing their jobs. If they were to speak up and get in the face of administration, they would still be able to keep their job and be promoted,” Barbour said. “ Peq)le can be ctmstmctively critical and not face repercussions,” Lambert said. t
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