Guaranteed continuing appointment by the SUNY system, or tenure, can create a moment of panic or a sense of relief for professors, depending on which side of the process they are on.
"Obtaining tenure is one of the most nerve-racking processes that a teacher will go through during their career," said Senior Vice Provost Kenneth Levy, who has been through each step of the tenure process from when he started out as an assistant professor to sitting on the review board.
The process of becoming tenured while working as an assistant professor is very in-depth and rigid, requiring hours of work and review, said Levy. During a nine month period, an assistant professor must undergo several examinations and have all of his or her research, awarded grants and scholarships reviewed, as well as his or her creative activities and teaching ability.
"The toughest part is how long and dragged out it is," said Associate Professor Peter Horvath. "In previous years it was not as obvious that you were being reviewed for it, it was more 'oh, by the way, you got tenure.'"
In general, professors obtain tenure after six years, according to Levy. Originally, teachers are hired for one, two, or three years as an assistant professor. After that time, they are reviewed and a decision is made on whether the instructor will have his or her contract renewed. In most cases, the instructor will have his or her contracts renewed for another few years and will then be put in front of the review board to obtain tenure.
To receive tenure, a professor must allocate a large portion of his or her time to doing research. Once a professor obtains tenure, however, it becomes possible to put more time into teaching and cutting back on the amount of research work being done.
After a seven-year time limit during which the assistant professors can obtain tenure, he or she becomes ineligible to work for the university. This, however, does not prevent the teacher from going to another university or college to teach.
The tenure process made difficult for a purpose, said Levy; once a professor becomes tenured, it becomes nearly impossible to dismiss him.
Some teachers, however, complain that ulterior motives exist behind some assistant professors attaining tenure.
"It really is about who you know and how much pull they have in the system," said one assistant professor up for tenure who requested that his name be withheld. "If you tend not to socialize with the other staff members or just piss people off, you are most likely not going to become tenured."
According to some professors without tenure, making tenure can also be related to the amount of amount of research performed and grant money received.
"If you are more into the teaching aspect of being a professor, you're basically screwed because the board doesn't make their decision based on your teaching ability," said another professor up for review. "They base it on the grants you receive. They might be a horrible teacher, but so long as the prestige is there, you will become tenured."
There are positive attributes, though, for both students and professors when tenure is given.
"With tenure, professors are able to express possibly controversial topics without risk to job security or pay cuts," said Levy, "which in turn allows students to be exposed to new ideas they might not otherwise encounter."
The negative aspect, of course, is that it becomes nearly impossible to terminate a professor and as a result, it is common to see a young professor work hard to obtain continuing appointment but lose enthusiasm and dedication once tenure has been achieved, according to Horvath.
