Tenure at Boulder and Elsewhere

interesting piece in the denver post. i think most of us -- myself included -- had forgotten about the ward churchill incident a couple years back. well, it continues to be a productive issue. boulder has issued a report on its tenure system.

for me, the most relevant part is this:

"The year-long study also found CU's seven-year process for awarding professors tenure is as rigorous as at other top universities but that the state's flagship school does not always follow its policies.

Despite criticism of the system that provides lifetime employment protection for professors, the review committee said tenure is necessary. The system promotes the freedom of professors to say what they believe without fear and is necessary to attract quality faculty, the report said."

tenure is necessary, but the rules and regulations regarding getting it -- and then keeping it -- need to be more strictly adhered to.

wonderful and sensible.

tenure IS essential for the very reason the report cites: academic freedom. professors cannot do their jobs if they constantly have to worry about offending entrenched interests/school funders. this includes joe taxpayer. this may sound elitist, but i could give a shit what joe taxpayer thinks should be taught at the school his taxmoney helps fund. there are reasons people earn doctorates and become experts in certain fields: so that joe taxpayer doesn't have to waste his time thinking about what his children need to learn.

and for the record: i disagree vehemently with the substance of ward churchill's argument (that the technocrats working in the world trade center were complicit in the attacks against it because they helped, whether knowingly or not, advance american military and capital imperialism). yes, yes, american capitalism is responsible for many of world's inequities, and it could do more to alleviate them. but no one deserves to die for it.

that said, i defend churchill's right to make such an argument. that's all it is, an argument, an opinion. by its very nature it is inviting dialogue. that is the proper role of a professor, to provoke and teach. if you don't like a certain argument, do the research and come up with what you think is the proper refutation.