Accordingly, eliminating tenure or at least radically revamping it is increasingly being justified not on matters of principle but by political and other expedient considerations. There is a fundamental paradigm shift in the parameters of academic freedom as historically conceptualized. This paradigm shift in the parameters of academic freedom, however, is but a subset of a more overarching social shift in the first amendment right to free speech outside of academia. In conclusion, what this article suggests is that SEF is far from the benign instrument it may once have been in a more homogeneous political, gender, racial, and academically prepared student environment. Unfortunately, on many campuses the traditional model of student and teacher belongs to a past age.
Faculty now teach in a litigious context.
The new role and impact of SEF need to be reassessed accordingly. On the use of student questionnaires. Getting tossed from the ivory tower. Society for A Return to Academic Standards. Instructor personality and the politics of the classroom.