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An Alarming Trend in Tenure

NEA Higher Education Research Department report finds the proportion of tenured faculty continues to drop.

Less than one-third of all faculty members were tenured in 1998-99, notes Tenure, the most recent Update from the NEA Office of Higher Education.

This publication provides a look at preliminary data from the 1999 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF-99), the first major study of the nation's faculty by the National Center for Postsecondary Statistics in the U.S. Department of Education since the 1992-93 survey.

The institutional movement away from offering tenure is apparent in nearly all sectors of higher education but most pronounced in community colleges, where one in four faculty members teaches at institutions that don't offer tenure.

Author John Lee also notes that the survey provides persuasive evidence that tenured faculty are more prolific researchers and publishers than their non-tenured colleagues.

For a copy of Tenure, visit, www.nea.org/he or E-mail HigherEd@nea.org.

When the 3,000 member University of Hawaii Professional Assembly shut down the statewide university system with a 13-day strike last month, UHPA's parent organization, the National Education Association, stood side by side with the striking professors.

The Association sent in a team of higher education staff, drawn from affiliates around the country, to help coordinate and provide logistical support for the strike. The national organization also provided financial support.

In addition, NEA President Bob Chase, Vice President Reg Weaver, and Secretary-Treasurer Dennis Van Roekel sent a letter of support to the striking professors.

"When working conditions become so dire that teaching and learning are severely hindered, when respect for faculty becomes so minimal that it is hard to retain a sense of worth, and when students' futures are severely impacted by government neglect, then we, as responsible educators, have no choice but to take a stand," the NEA leaders told the faculty.

Four positions are currently available on the Review Panel of Thought & Action, the NEA higher education journal. The positions carry three-year terms and start this coming fall.

Interested in applying for one of the positions? Send a resumé and a short writing sample to Con Lehane, NEA Communications, 1201 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036-3290, or E-mail clehane@nea.org.