Regents, UA officials approve tenure review

"We really are the envy of the country in regards to this, and we want to make sure it continues to work well," said Amos, the Arizona Board of Regents president-elect, during its meeting at Arizona State University in Tempe.

University of Arizona President Peter Likins said the Arizona post-tenure review process is superior to other programs nationwide.

"Folks in Arizona devised a post-tenure review process better than any other I have seen in the country," Likins said after the meeting.

Jerrold Hogle, UA faculty chairman, said tenure does not guarantee jobs to professors who refuse to better their job performances.

"It says people who are tenured can be dismissed if they don't improve after being rated unsatisfactory," Hogle said after the meeting.

The regents approved post-tenure review in February 1997 after threatening to eliminate the tenure system altogether unless the three state universities came up with a plan to increase faculty accountability.

But not everyone is praising the system, as several Faculty Senate members have publicly blasted UA officials for their support.

UA surgery professor Marlys Witte, who has openly criticized the program, said yesterday that the officials are wrong when they praise post-tenure review.

"I'm seriously concerned about the swiftness with which we entered into the post-tenure review process," said Witte, who is also a Faculty Senate member. "I feel deeply that we're going down a very dangerous route."

Yearly reviews defeat the purpose of tenure, which was designed to increase academic freedom by reducing fear of administrative reprisals, she said.

"We have yet to see the repercussions on academic freedom that can be very serious," she said.

Amos said he recognizes deficiencies in the program.

"I don't think the process is perfect," he said.

The regents also learned Friday that four UA faculty members were given unsatisfactory reviews.

While the review system is complete, its results are lacking, Witte said.

"The process was very exhaustive but nonetheless very superficial," she said.

A report to the board included charts and facts in an effort to help the regents analyze the impact of post-tenure review.

The report stated:

Between 1995 and 1996, 29 faculty members at the three universities were denied tenure out of 265 who requested it.

During the same time period at the UA, 15 faculty members were denied tenure out of 121 who applied. It also stated that 13 of those people filed a grievance to complain, which resulted in one decision being overturned.

Four UA tenured faculty members who received an overall unsatisfactory review entered a performance improvement plan.

Wildcat reporter Anthony C. Braza contributed to this report.

David J. Cieslak can be reached via e-mail at David.J.Cieslak@wildcat.arizona.edu.