The Howard University (District of Columbia) policy on tenure, as defined in the new faculty handbook, allows the board of trustees exceptional power in removing faculty. At a time when Howard University faculty are enjoying greater participation than ever in governance, this and other policy issues are creating faculty dissatisfaction. (MSE)

Leaders of the movement to unionize graduate teaching/research assistants are learning organizing tactics through the Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions, and plotting strategies for a critical campaign year. Graduate students at 20 universities already have collective bargaining units, students at 15 institutions are campaigning for union…

Recent studies have found that most faculty are more influenced to retire by financial incentives, working conditions, and family matters than the end of mandatory-retirement policies, anticipated in 1994. Further research and improved retirement tracking on individual campuses are recommended for improved institutional planning. (MSE)

Increasing use of non-tenure-track, full-time college professors, which some thought a temporary solution to institutional budgeting, has become common policy, according to a study of existing data for 88 four-year institutions. While administrators find flexibility and savings in the practice, faculty accuse institutions of exploiting Ph.D.s and…

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), long dismissive of the idea of post-tenure faculty evaluation, has adopted a new policy offering guidance on how such a system should be set up, while insisting it should not be used to revoke tenure. The group still clearly opposes requiring tenured professors to undergo formal, regular,…

The Modern Language Association's large Graduate Student Caucus is pressing the association to lead a campaign against use of part-time faculty. The Ph.D. candidates are fearful that after years of training, they will be unable to find tenure-track positions, and feel the association has placed too much emphasis on seeking jobs outside higher…

A part-time community college teacher and a state senator have filed a complaint with the Department of Education, arguing that the regional accrediting agency is ignoring its own rules about use of part-time faculty. The proportion of part-time faculty has doubled in two decades, to over 40%. Excerpts of the six regional agencies' standards are…

A federal judge has ordered the University of New Hampshire to end a professor's suspension, after ruling that his classroom comments did not amount to sexual harassment. The university had claimed the teacher violated institutional sexual-harassment policy by creating a classroom environment hostile to women. (MSE)

The reservations of many young faculty members about the tenure system are gaining increasing attention among older scholars, in part because they feel it must be discussed. Some call for a complete overhaul of the system. Even many tenure supporters feel more options are needed in the current environment of higher education. (MSE)

In early 1997, over 100 University of California, Hayward faculty members signed a statement of concern about the heavy use of part-time faculty as lecturers. Professors fear that increased use of lecturers threatens tenure, hurts quality of education, and reduces departmental continuity. Part-time faculty are generally treated as a different…

The Supreme Court ordered a lower court to reexamine the free-speech case of a controversial City University of New York black studies professor, demoted from department chairman for making racially biased statements seen as disruptive. The rights of public universities to make such decisions was a central issue. (MSE)

At a recent conference of academics, union organizers, and workers at Yale University (Connecticut) activity and rhetoric focused on reinforcing the ties that bind academe and labor, and particularly on the question, currently before the National Labor Relations Board, of whether Yale graduate students qualify as employees or students. Leaders of…