UA onboard Harvard tenure study

The UA will keep a close eye on faculty statistics next year as part of a Harvard study on tenure appointments.

The University of Arizona is one of 10 institutions chosen to assist in a program that will develop a national database to track the percentage of faculty that receive tenure. The study also will tabulate when and why professors leave the UA, said Elizabeth Ervin, UA vice provost for academic personnel.

"I believe that we, as a university, were selected for the Harvard study because they recognized that we did have prior experience for this type of data collection," Ervin said. "We are looking to collect data in a common way that will help us keep track of the percentage of faculty that get tenure, when they leave, whether it is voluntarily or otherwise; what the percentages are for gender, race and the disciplines in which they teach."

Ervin and John Wilson, UA decision and planning support director, will travel to Harvard in October for a three-day conference on the project's initial design.

"It is a chance to think together of how information is gathered," Wilson said.

He said he believes the main reason behind the UA's selection was its role in establishing the Post-Tenure Review Process.

The Arizona Board of Regents mandated in January that universities evaluate faculty after tenure to provide public accountability.

Ervin said this is needed to dispel anxiety about professors not performing as well as prior to tenure.

Other selected participants include the University of Cincinnati, Kansas State University and Illinois Wesleyan.

The project is sponsored by Pew Charitable Trusts and will provide each participating institution with $5,000 to gather data on promotion, tenure, attrition and related policies and practices of faculty members.