“We teach more students with fewer teachers. In 2013, there were 1,746 more students than in 2004. In 2013, there were 218 fewer tenured and tenure-track professors than in 2004,” read the poster on the fourth floor of Amador Hall.

Professors who are tenured, or on a tenure-track, should be reviewed routinely in order for optimal results in innovative thinking, research and teaching. More importantly, tenure should be offered to more professors to meet the demand of students, students that deserve professors who don’t feel the need to stay in the safe-zone because of politics and keeping a steady job.

Danielle Duckett is a professor at Sacramento State. When she used to work at a private college in Kentucky she fought to teach a book she felt was important for students to know, written by a former student in prison because of his failed attempt to steal a first addition copy of Darwin’s Origins of Species at the college. 

Duckett had the full backing of the department chair but the board was very upset and wanted to keep the scandal quiet and tucked away. Duckett got to teach the book because her department chair advocated for academic freedom, but it was the last semester she taught there. Politics won again.

If Duckett had tenure she would not have been penalized for teaching what she thought was right, and maybe would of taught another semester. When it comes down to it, college is a money-making business, with people at the top reaping the benefits and leaving professors with no level of certainty unless they hear the magic word: tenure. 

The National Education Association says that tenure is “a right to due process”, meaning that it is not a guaranteed lifetime job, but makes it difficult to fire a tenured professor. The university would have to have compelling evidence of incompetence or unprofessional behavior to fire a faculty member.

To make sure professors stay on track and don’t take their position for granted they are reviewed periodically. The professors that have the most job security should always be expected to teach at the best of their ability, and continue to uphold high standards for their research.

As a student, knowing that the professors are checked up on routinely should be taken seriously, especially if tuition rates keep escalating. As long as the professors are dedicated to their craft, like a tenured professor should be, why should it even bother them to be reviewed? Being reviewed also brings perks to tenured professors, like salary or merit increases.

It is purposefully difficult to fire a tenured professor, the reason why it is hard to become one as well. The probationary period last seven years at a four-year college and three years at a community college. After the time is up if the professor is not offered tenure they lose their job.

The first question that came to mind: “Why don’t they tenure more professors to meet the demand of students?”

Simple answer: Money. 

One-third of all college and university professors have tenure, because a lot of colleges rely on part time and non tenure-track faculty who get paid less and have fewer benefits. Some professors in this situation have to share offices, like Duckett, resulting in four professors with one office, barley having somewhere for office hours that is reliable and private. 

“Working in other states I made about $2,700 a class, for the entire semester, so I could teach three classes, which was about the most you could get, and I’m still below poverty, and I’m working really hard,” said Duckett. “[…] Colleges are increasingly depending on part time faculty because they don’t have to make a long term commitment.”

Duckett currently teaches five courses at California State University Stanislaus and one course at Sac State, and still doesn’t get to teach classes in her expertise because of the hierarchy system. 

“I generally don’t teach in my area of expertise because I pick up what’s left,” said Duckett. “[…] When you are semester to semester everybody else gets course preference, by the time they get to you it’s the classes that nobody else wants to teach.”

It is not only important that tenured professors are reviewed periodically so students know they are getting the highest quality educations, it is more important to treat professors with dignity and respect. In reality, without professors we wouldn’t have students. They are what hold the campus together; nobody just comes to campus to sit in a classroom without somebody at the front of it lecturing. 

Offering tenure to more professors improves the quality of teaching. Duckett is a prime example of a professor battling with wanting to experiment in more innovative ways of teaching, but at the same time trying to keep good reviews from students, something that gets taken into account when offering tenure track. 

“Once you have that tenure you have a greater level of protection so you can teach more controversial topics, you can research more controversial issues,” Duckett said. 

Reliable professors create more reliable students, students who don’t have to worry about having a place to sit in the classroom. Students that can rely on their university to have enough professors as they do students, with an adequate space provided to meet with professors. 

“There were 31 more administrators in 2013 than in 2004. The average cost of just 10 administrators would pay for the salary CFA [California Faculty Association] is asking the Chancellor to fund,” read the last fact on the poster.