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On January 2, 2024, Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned, less than a month after the resignation of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill. They caused an uproar among conservative lawmakers and some major donors who found Gay and Magill's disappointing response to campus antisemitism, as well as plagiarism allegations against Gay. Among the public, some were surprised that Gai and Magill still retained their positions as university professors and researchers. Management scholar Ray Gibney explains why tenure-track university presidents can retain tenure professorships and resume teaching after leaving or losing their management positions.
What is tenure?
As defined by the American Association of University Professors, tenure is an "indefinite appointment" that is used to protect academic work. Getting tenure is hard and takes years. Universities can only dismiss tenured professors if there is a reason or when "exceptional circumstances" occur, such as when the school is in financial crisis or when its department is being laid off.
Tenure is university-specific. If a tenure-track professor is hired by another school, they will lose these protections unless their new academic institution grants them tenure again.
Academics who serve as principals, provosts, or deans have different responsibilities than regular teachers.
Whether the administrator is from a traditional academic or non-traditional business or political background, the employment contract typically includes a tenure-track faculty position.
The president of a university serves on its school board. The Board of Directors may remove them from their managerial positions. But the abolition of tenure and the job security it entails requires a formal process and investigation.
However, universities rarely end tenure, even if they find evidence of tenure professors being incompetent.
Does it matter if Guy and Magill resign and not get fired?
Both Guy and Magill resigned as presidents of their universities. Since neither of them resigned from the faculty work, they remain employed at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.
Whether an administrator resigns or is fired, it has little effect on whether they retain tenure-track faculty positions. When an administrator is fired, there may be a justification for the dismissal of their investigation. But that's not a guarantee.
To remove them from the faculty would require initiating university-specific proceedings to revoke tenure. Each university defines its own justification for lifetime revocation, with moral turpitude and excessive absenteeism being common grounds for dismissal.
What might happen to their salaries and other compensation?
University administrators usually do not teach. The culture in academia is to provide administrators who are returning to the faculty with a short (usually one semester) period to review and update course materials in preparation for a return to teaching.
During this time, they are usually paid as per their administrator salary. However, once they return to the faculty force, remuneration is usually adjusted back to comparable faculty salaries.
Since they were all recently hired, and the details are often delayed, the salaries of the former principals have not been made public. According to **, Gai earns at least $880,000 a year. Magill's predecessor earns $1.56 million a year, plus millions of dollars in deferred compensation.
What is the purpose of tenure?
Mainly to promote academic research and academic freedom. Once tenure is granted, professors and other faculty members may be more free to research topics that may be politically unpopular or that their superiors may not approve of.
Tenure also makes it easier for professors to discuss sensitive but appropriate topics with students without fear of retaliation.
What conditions do they need to be fired?
Firing any tenure-track faculty member is a lengthy process.
Even if professors who are caught up in a heated news cycle are not involved, the school forms a committee to evaluate any possible allegations. This process can take months or even years.
She appears to be in an even more precarious position given Gai's plagiarism allegations, but her dismissal is by no means assured.
What has changed for tenure?
The proportion of non-tenure-track teachers is growing rapidly. These professors and lecturers are well represented on U.S. campuses and typically teach more courses and earn less money.
This provides a double incentive for colleges to actually get more labor at a cheaper rate. This arrangement can leave scholars in a hurry at a very short time due to a lack of job security.
Currently, tenure is making Guy and Magill keep their salaries at Harvard and Pennsylvania. It is possible to initiate proceedings to dismiss any of them for good cause, but this is highly unlikely.
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