Explores the crucial role that tenure and post-tenure review may play in the future of American higher education, looking at recent debates about tenure and experiences of post-tenure review. Contends that tenure can be preserved, with post-tenure review the means of invigorating and renewing the profession. (EV)

The increased interests and capacities of our enlarged student body have widened faster than the faculty's ability to respond. (IR)

Issues that divide the academy and predict continuing polarization. (Editor/IR)

The threat of right-wing repression is not so dangerous as the left-wing totalitarian attacks against freedom on the campus. (Editor/IR)

The President of San Jose State University, noting that a major impact of collective bargaining in higher education will be in the area of academic standards, discusses the dispute over "open files," maintaining that confidentiality of peer judgement is the best way to assure candor and honesty in evaluating faculty performance. (JT)

The new uneasiness about what goes on in the Classroom is not dissatisfaction with the workings of the educational process; it reflects a loss of faith in the Western tradition. (Editor)

Possible administrative policies to defer the tenure decision and slow the addition of tenured faculty are examined, including extended probationary periods, suspension or abolition of the "up-or-out" rule, term contracts, and change in tenure quotas. Examples of current use, strengths and weaknesses of alternatives, and opinions within the…

People on the tenure track complain that evaluation criteria are inexplicit. The second problem is the allocation of energies between teaching and publication. Administrators must be informed about anything that explains exactly what the faculty member's work means. (MLW)

Analysis of the content of and student responses to college course evaluations suggests that, in general, students are seeking entertainment, comfort, high grades, and less work and are hostile to the necessary routines and rigors of higher education. The commonly used numerical evaluation form is not only unreliable and invalid, it is an…

Teaching in a world that wants caution, careful documentation, and a prudent regard for student satisfaction, lest their actions come back to haunt them in court, is discussed. Getting students to think is tough; getting them to agree with the teacher is seen as dangerous. (MLW)

Recent (1990-92) college and university task force reports on faculty rewards reveal changing expectations about faculty's role, changing standards and methods for evaluating faculty performance, and a rethinking of the aims and means of rewarding teachers. It is concluded that administrative and faculty leadership and innovative reforms are all…

A survey of 300 college faculty across disciplines suggested that many faculty encounter conditions that hinder collegiality concerning undergraduate teaching issues. These difficulties include faculty isolation and fragmented communication, constrained resources, and inappropriate evaluation and reward systems. Results also suggest ways in which…

A national survey of liberal arts colleges' institutional policies and practices in evaluating faculty performance and classroom teaching, focusing on the changes in evaluation since 1978, is reported. Factors considered, their frequency of use, and sources of information for evaluation are examined. (MSE)

A system of evaluating faculty performance in research and scholarly activity, service, and teaching by awarding points for specific activities is outlined. The point system is used to distribute merit monies allotted by the university. Advantages of the system include predictability, specificity, and flexibility for faculty to develop individual…