If Minnesota's faculty follows through with the plan, it will be the first faculty labor union among the country's 30 major research institutions. The University of Virginia has not escaped the growing trend toward hiring contracted faculty instead of grating tenure to associate professors. The attack on tenure has created concern and anger among many University professors. Most importantly, tenure allows both students and faculty academic freedom that is sheltered from university financial worries and politics. Without it, students would miss out on some great learning experiences.
Budget constraints are the main force behind university systems' re-evaluation of tenure.
The financial concerns are lamentable, but tenure should not be the victim of a cost-conscious administration. Beyond ensuring job security, tenure allows professors freedom that cannot coexist with the worries of department politics. When professors are allowed to teach in a way best suited to their years of scholarship, without worrying about possible consequences to their jobs, the pursuit of knowledge and quality of education only can be improved. Trusting qualified professors to go beyond the boundaries of what is known to enlighten and educate their students is the essence of higher education. Hiring contracted faculty, instead of giving tenure to associate professors, serves to discourage and weaken the academic institution because it devalues the skill and years of hard work those professors bring to the position.