Unsolicited advice for my USG colleagues: I think how we talk about this tenure debacle matters, especially for conversations with people outside of academia. Tenure is not being eliminated. What is being significantly undermined are the protections afforded by tenure.
Short version: tenure will still exist, but our existing policies for post tenure review are being radically changed, making it easier to fire faculty for capricious or political reasons, with existing due process protections undermined or eliminated.
Issue: Tenure is meaningful & important as a foundation for academic freedom, & it is currently industry standard within academia. Whether people support tenure as it currently exists or not, it can’t be disputed that it is strong & protected at top ranked universities.
So I think the important point to make is that this policy change will (perhaps irreparably) harm our reputation & our ability to recruit and retain top faculty- who bring scientific and artistic innovation to our state, who teach our students, who bolster our economy.
Arguments & defenses of tenure have their place & time, but even for someone who will never agree that tenure should exist, the harm this will cause our institutions is undeniable. So if people care about the academic reputation of our universities, they should be concerned.
One of the best summaries I’ve read:
https://twitter.com/ga_justice/status/1448323736797655043
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