By Denise K. Magner A contentious battle over tenure at the University of Minnesota will come to a quiet close this month. The university's Board of Regents was expected to approve a new tenure policy last week, with the strong support of the Faculty Senate. People don't need to fear coming to the University of Minnesota.
Academic freedom is alive and well here.
The regents maintain that it was never their intent to weaken either tenure or academic freedom. The old tenure code, they said, simply left the administration with too little flexibility to make changes in programs and personnel. A compromise policy that was set to go before the board last week sought to satisfy both sides. In a letter to faculty members in May, Thomas Reagan, chairman of the board, said he supported the compromise and would urge other regents to approve it. Mr. Reagan, in an interview, said the regents' views had been distorted during the furor, which reached a peak last fall.