This policy was amended August,1997. The U. T. Board of Regents recognizes the time-honored practice of tenure for university faculty as an important protection of free inquiry, open intellectual and scientific debate, and unfettered criticism of the accepted body of knowledge. Academic institutions have a special need for practices that protect freedom of expression, since the core of the academic enterprise involves a continual reexamination of ideas.
Academic disciplines thrive and grow through critical analysis of conventions and theories.
Throughout history, the process of exploring and expanding the frontiers of learning has necessarily challenged the established order. That is why tenure is so valuable, not merely for the protection of individual faculty members but also as an assurance to society that the pursuit of truth and knowledge commands our first priority. Without freedom to question, there can be no freedom to learn. The U. T. Board of Regents supports a system of periodic evaluation of all tenured faculty. Periodic evaluation is intended to enhance and protect, not diminish, the important guarantees of tenure and academic freedom.