Well, big-time athletics might be part of the problem (see earlier post) but today’s Chronicle of Higher Ed ran a fascinating commentary from a just-retired professor about the problems of age. Apparently the average age of tenured faculty in the US is 55, and going up. Further, the number of professors over 65 has doubled in 10 years. Since there is no required or compulsory retirement age, tenure is increasingly the province of those who are not, shall we say, at their intellectual peak. Laurie Fendrich’s article raises very interesting questions about the motivations of some who stay on, perhaps longer than they should.
Of course, this is a very difficult issue. There are older professors who are superb but there are also many who are not. I’ve always thought the best way to handle this was to come to some agreement that at a certain age, say 67, we remove tenure but offer those interested and capable of carrying on a rolling contract, renewable as agreed. If you are productive and enthusiastic, you stay on, but you don’t get to hang on forever just because you can. Am sure there are some wrinkles in this, not least the likelihood for abuse, but we do need to start talking about tenure and its limits before the matter is taken on by those who would love to rid the university system of this protection once and for all. In no other professions that most people pursue is there such a provision for permanent employment and the old defense that it protects ‘free thinking’ rings a bit hollow when most faculty don’t speak up over scandals such as those we see at UNC. It’s time for universities to lead this discussion, not avoid it from fear.