This is not the way to deepen our relationship with Delaware's various communities. Our task should be to broaden the University's demographics, not participate in, or through inaction support the continuation of, policies that condemn the University to serving a narrower rather than a broader spectrum of the population. As many of you might know, there is currently a controversy raging at the University of Minnesota regarding proposed alterations in the school's tenure policy. Although the Board of Regents' original plan with regard to their proposal entailed securing approval for the suggested alterations at an Oct 10 meeting, this plan has been at least temporarily derailed. Minnesota's Bureau of Medication Services, in response to a petition from the University of Minnesota faculty, has blocked the Board of Regents attempt to implement its tenure revisions.
Studies show that most faculty members nation-wide support tenure.
Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that there is little enthusiasm for the possibility that tenure could be eroded nationally by an incremental series of assaults, first in one state, then in another, and so on. Defending tenure also frequently entails detailing what it is not. Far from being unusual, such defenders of tenure stress, it is a type of reward system that, like the emphasis on experience to be found in the business world and the adherence to seniority guidelines in unions, offers employees increased job security in proportion to their years of service. To answer this question accurately, we first have to meditate on some other questions. Obviously such questions open up some complicated issues.