Portion Of Faculty With Tenure High State’s Universities Far Exceed Nation’s 31 Percent Average

Students who enroll in classes at Idaho’s three public universities have an above average chance of being taught by professors who are tenured.

Seventy percent of the eligible faculty at the University of Idaho carry the security that tenure brings, an expectation of continued employment instead of year-to-year contracts that other faculty live with.

At Boise State University, the rate is 65 percent, and at Idaho State University it is 58 percent.

That puts all three well above the national average of about 31 percent.

That is too many for state Rep. Diana Richman, a Sugar City Republican who echoes a complaint that has seven state legislatures nationwide considering an end to a system in place for more than seven decades.

“Basically, it’s the old conservative mother coming out in me, but I have never liked the idea of tenure in the teaching profession,” said Richman, a member of the House Education Committee.

Tom Dillon, a State Board of Education member from Canyon County, believes tenure is outdated, but Idaho is trapped into using it because it is a recruiting tool that brings quality instructors to Idaho’s universities.

Still, change is coming. Seven legislatures nationwide are considering laws that would require routine review of tenured professors and dismissal for chronic poor performance. And post-tenure review is being contemplated in state institutions in at least 28 states, the American Association for Higher Education said.

The most common reforms involve specific periodic reviews of tenured faculty and use of multiyear contracts in place of tenure. Educators say that approach already is in place to some degree in Idaho.

At Boise State University, tenured faculty are reviewed every five years or more if supervisors are concerned with their performance.

Critics complain that tenure is like a job guarantee that can cripple faculty performance and harbor dead wood in university classrooms.

But educators say the community benefits from tenure through the research it fosters and the knowledge of teachers encouraged to stay put.