Tenure: Viable or a Dinosaur?

Abstract

This article discusses the history of tenure in academia as well as the current pros and cons of the tenure system. A review of nursing and non-nursing literature reveals that the most important goal confronting the nation's universities and colleges today is to find more creative ways to define scholarly work and incorporate it into promotion and tenure guidelines. The author presents arguments for and against tenure, reviews the impact of tenure in nursing, and offers recommendations and solutions to the tenure dilemma in nursing.

Barriers to Scholarship in Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy Practice Faculty

“…7,[28][29][30] There also appeared to be difficulties in documenting a faculty member's activities in the context of their position and responsibilities. 5,[31][32][33] The literature supports the idea that clinicians are not aware of other forms of scholarship as defined by Boyer, such as the scholarship of application or scholarship of teaching, or how to document these activities in the context of their promotion and/or tenure documents. 1 Furthermore, there is a lack of faculty development programs that could assist clinicians American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 2007; 71 (5) Article 91.…”

“…In addition, there was concern that the timeframe necessary to develop and demonstrate scholarship of application or teaching may be longer than most commonly employed by institutions in their promotion and tenure guidelines. 5,7,32,[43][44][45][46][47] For dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy, the literature suggested a barrier based upon departmental chairs not recognizing alternative forms of scholarship or providing appropriate mentoring needed for clinicians in the health science clinical faculty members. 5,7,29,31,37,41,[48][49][50][51][52] Additional potential barriers were identified in 2 of the 4 professions.…”

Discourses of a Cancer Diagnosis: Narratives of Women in Academia

“…Tenure ostensibly commits the university to a contract of a lifetime salary while allowing the educator the liberty of choosing his/her own content and to teach in a manner without retaliation (Brock & Butt, 1998). The 1940 Statement regarding tenure that reflects this guiding principle of higher education is "indispensable to the success of an institution in fulfilling its obligation to its students and to society" (1984, p. 4).…”

Promotion and tenure in nursing education: Lessons learned

“…The clinical practice component, essential to the nursing profession is absent from the three pronged promotion and tenure process [9] . Often the nursing academic has been placed in the difficult position of choosing between her clinical competence and the rigorous demands of the promotion and tenure process [9] .…”

“…The clinical practice component, essential to the nursing profession is absent from the three pronged promotion and tenure process [9] . Often the nursing academic has been placed in the difficult position of choosing between her clinical competence and the rigorous demands of the promotion and tenure process [9] . This is particularly true for nurses who hold advanced degrees as nurse practitioners who must complete a set number of clinical hours annually to maintain certification; however, clinical practice is arguably intrinsic to creation of nursing knowledge, the development of clinical placement sites for students as well as continued licensure and certification.…”