Tenure and Post Tenure Review

¶ … remain gaps in that literature needing to be filled, which is one reason why the proposed study is needed. One particular study documents the reasoning supporting the proposed study by stating that "few empirical studies have addressed the spectrum of faculty views regarding post-tenure review" (Wood, Johnsrud, 2005, p. 394). This study would seek to at least slightly change that remark by adding its findings to the current literature.

Additionally, this study would seek to answer a number of questions regarding why post-tenure reviews are important not only to the world of academia, but to society in general. One recent study compared the manner in which post-tenure reviews take place to the method used to evaluate employees in the workforce, and determined that "colleges and universities should not be compared to businesses, and the education of students should not be compared to products produced by factories" (Pitts, Kamery, 2005, p. 68). The study makes the statement that comparing the corporate and academic cultures is like comparing apples and oranges (p. 67). It would seem that a study such as the one being proposed would help to either make the case that post-tenure review is an excellent evaluation tool, or make the case that tenure is no longer necessary. Either finding would help in justification of action, whatever the action might be.

In today's current environment both academia and business entities are under huge pressure to become as highly efficient as possible; fiscally, structurally, and administratively.

A recent study found that "institutions have sought a number of ways to respond to the career needs of faculty, especially given public demands for accountability and perceptions that universities are not doing enough about the alleged deadwood problem" (Wood, Jarlais, 2006, p. 563). The study also states that in response to internal and external forces that are now influencing higher education, universities and colleges have developed a number of evaluative techniques including the post-tenure review.