Tenure

Tenure provides educators with protection from dismissal due to arbitrary and capricious political and administrative actions. Educators are free to express their views in written and verbal commentary. The Association of University Professors (AAUP) as well as federal courts have emphasized the importance of academic freedom in a democracy. The concept of tenure has a long history, representing efforts to protect educators from job insecurity resulting from their verbal or written work. This entry reviews the origins of tenure, its evolution in the United States through the work of the AAUP, and its elaboration in U.S. Supreme Court rulings over the years. It also describes the function of tenure in various educational settings today, where it plays a central role in protecting academic freedom.

Tenure grants teachers and faculty protection from unfair dismissal. In 1245, Pope Innocent the IV granted exemptions to scholars in the University of Paris from appearing at ecclesiastical courts some distance from Paris. The following year, a Court of Conservation was founded to protect university faculty. Over time, universities were given autonomy from local, civil, and ecclesiastical officials. There were some limits to these protections when attacks were made on the prevalent dogma or authoritarianism, but the concept of autonomy provided insulation from excessive political encroachment. In the 1890s, Germany sought student protection through Lernfreiheit, or the freedom of university students to choose courses, move from school to school, and be free of dogmatic restrictions. Similarly, Lehrfreiheit stressed faculty rights to freedom of inquiry and freedom of teaching with the right to report on findings in an unhindered, unrestricted, and unfettered environment.

Through the founding of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in 1915, John Dewey and others sought to protect academics from interference with their employment by external persons or groups. During the early part of the 20th century, faculty members were often dismissed for offending powerful individuals or groups. Such political interference was frequent, and teachers had no recourse against unreasonable interference with their professional responsibilities.

In 1940, the AAUP issued a Statement of the Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure. The principles included assumptions that tenure is a means toward freedom in teaching and research as well as in extracurricular activities. Tenure is important in recruiting and retaining qualified men and women in the teaching profession. Freedom and economic security were found to be indispensable to the success of an institution in meeting its professional obligations to students and society.

Thirty years later, in 1970, a committee of the AAUP and Association of American Colleges noted that the 1940 statement was not a static code, but rather a framework guiding future changes in the social, political, and economic climate. They noted that in Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967), the Supreme Court reiterated that the United States is committed to safeguarding academic freedom to all citizens, not just teachers. That freedom is especially supported by the First Amendment. The AAUP uses censorship of institutions to encourage adherence to tenure and academic freedom guidelines.

In Board of Regents v. Roth (1972), the Supreme Court held that liberty and property rights are created by contract or state law and constitutionally protected. To acquire that protection, teachers are required to serve for a set period of time, often 4 years, before becoming permanent employees. During the probationary period, employees are not entitled to employment property rights. In Perry v. Sindermann (1972), the Court held that procedural due process safeguards are required for teachers who have a property or [Page 819]liberty interest in employment. Pretenure employees under probationary contracts do not have due process rights. States have different tenure provisions, but generally if there is a reduction in force, tenured faculty are dismissed last.

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