CMYK
THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS
VOL.
95
I S S UE 1 0
APRIL 26, 2017
reflector.uindy.edu
What is tenure?
Several faculty members discuss what tenure is, the process of getting tenure and what it means for students and the university By Mercadees Hempel MANAGING EDITOR
Assistant Professor of English Kip Robisch will go up for tenure in two years at the University of Indianapolis, and while tenure is frequently discussed among faculty members, it is not a common topic among students. Some students may not know a great deal about tenure and how it plays a role at universities, including UIndy. According to Dean of the Shaheen College of Arts and Sciences Jennifer Drake, tenure was created to protect academic freedom and freedom of expression. “It’s really the idea that as faculty members we should be able to—and not just for our own edification, but for the betterment of society—we should be able to ask questions that might be unpopular, to engage in research that would be controversial, because that’s what intellectual engagement is and how we form knowledge,” Drake said. Drake said that not only does tenure involve academic freedom, but a person will have his or her job for life, barring unforeseen circumstances such as institutional downsizing or closing, and the person cannot be relocated within the institution, or the person has committed a crime or an act of indiscretion. “The job security of tenure is the kind only the Supreme Court has,” Robisch said. “Once you get tenure, you have to do something pretty severe to lose your job.” Faculty members on tenure track at UIndy have six years to put together a dossier to be reviewed by the Promotion and Tenure Committee. The Promotion and Tenure Committee is made up of eight members, according to commit-
FONTS
tee member1.and Associate Professor him insight the interesting things kind of walking the halls like a leper. Faculty member hasof6 years to putinto together a dossier Mathematics and Computer Science his colleagues are doing. which has to show what they have done for the university in It’s a horrible year, the year after tenure Krysi Leganza. “The best part about being on this rejection.” service scholarship A facultyteaching, member going up forand tenure committee is you see that which you After his last year at Purdue, Robisch 2. Promotion and Tenure 8 faculty vote decided not to go back into academia submits a dossier that includes letters committe, intuitively already knewmembers, or had a hunch written by on people in their about, which isand all ofthen the incredible things tofor a while. However, he said he missed wether thedepartment, professor gets tenure recommend outside of the department the provot and off campus. your faculty colleagues are doing across teaching at a college so much that he Student evaluations, published work and the university,” Frantz said. decided to go back. Now he is working to Provot President evidence of 3. service are allrecommends included as well.to theRobisch said that being on tenure have his short stories published so that he 4. Leganza, President to the Trustees According to therecommends dossier must track is Board a lot ofof work and takes “Her- can include them in his dossier. Robisch incorporate5.teaching, servicekeep and scholthe number If yes, they the job.culean” If not,effort theybecause have aofyear to findof said that because he loves teaching, he is arship. Leganza said that what makes a credit hours professors must teach, as glad that it will take up a good portion another job dossier stand out to her in particular is a well as doing scholarship and service. He of his dossier. lot of reflection. said the process of Drake said that she believes faculty Once comgranting tenure can be empowered by tenure, but there mittee members at UIndy is very are facets of the tenure culture that she review the dossier, different from the does not agree with, such as the fact that they discuss it, process at Purdue adjunct and associate faculty get paid less and if a professor University where than full-time tenure track or full-time is not a certain he used to work. non-tenure track faculty. rank, then the At Purdue, the Drake also said that tenure can be committee votes professor does not overvalued and it could undervalue nonto give the prowrite a reflection tenure faculty. While there are pros and fessor a promotion. If they agree to the or put together a dossier but instead has cons to tenure, Leganza said that it does promotion, then after talking about the colleagues represent the candidate. create loyalty between the faculty and the dossier, institutional fit is discussed. AcRobisch said because UIndy allows university when tenure is granted, which cording to Leganza, institutional fit can faculty to reflect in their dossier and can benefit students. mean different things to different people, write about why they deserve tenure, it is “I think everybody at UIndy is but basically it is the question of whether a much more “civilized system.” Robisch dedicated to the students,” she said. “But the person fits at UIndy. will go up for tenure sooner than six years knowing you’re going to stay here and If the committee decides a faculty because of his work at Purdue, and he has make a career out of it, this is a place you member has institutional fit and votes seen the darker side of the tenure process. want to be—if you apply for tenure, you’ve in favor of granting the faculty memRobisch’s tenure case was rejected at made a commitment to the university, ber tenure, then the committee makes Purdue, which meant he would teach at and the university has made a commita recommendation to the provost. The Purdue for one more year and then would ment to you.” provost then makes a recommendation to be fired from the university. He was given Robisch believes tenure does benefit the president, and the president makes a that one year to find a job, which is the students in a way, and despite not being recommendation to the board of trustees. same as at UIndy. a fan of tenure as a whole, he does want If the board of trustees decides to vote in “It’s the worst year of a professor’s to earn it at UIndy and continue to do favor, then tenure is granted. This same life,” Robisch said. “Some people become what he loves. process applies to promotion as well. ghosts, because you don’t work for that “This is one of the things I love about Professor of History Ted Frantz said school anymore, but you have to work for the university. You get to go up for tenthat he values being on the Promotion that school for a year. All your colleagues ure based on what you give to students,” and Tenure Committee because it gives know you didn’t get tenure, and you’re Robisch said.
“This is one of the things I love about the university. You get to go up for tenure based on what you give to students.”
Photo by Mercadees Hempel
STEPS TOWARDS
6
YEARS
TEACHING
Put together a dossier that shows what the faculty member has done for the university in:
SCHOLARSHIP
SERVICE
Present it to the
Promotion and Tenure Committee
8 FACULTY MEMBERS
Review and vote on whether or not to make the recommendation to the Provost
The Provost then makes the recommendation to the President
The President then reviews the proposal The final vote comes from the
Board of Trustees
YES NO
If the board approves, then the professor is granted tenure. If it does not approve, then the professor has one year to find another job.
Graphic by Juliana Rohrmoser and Hanna McClard
UIndy awarded $1.2 million grant from NSF By Zoë Berg ART DIRECTOR The University of Indianapolis received a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program that will help students pursue a Master of Art in Teaching degree. The grant was awarded to the Teach (STEM)³ Program, which works with students who already have an undergraduate degree in a STEM field and want to pursue a career in secondary STEM education. While some of the students in the Teach (STEM)³ Program are coming directly from their undergraduate education, many of them have had some years of experience working in the STEM field. The program has had students who have previously worked for Eli Lilly, Dow AgroSciences and as a veterinarian. The Teach (STEM)³ Program is a oneyear clinical residency program in which
students work in a classroom setting in tional Science Foundation,”said Assistant one of the program’s partner schools in Professor of Biology Kim Baker. “There’s Decatur, Perry and Wayne townships. a specific track, the Noyce Scholarship, The students also take 36 graduate credit that is intended to promote having STEM hours, ultimately leaving with an MAT career changers then pursue a master’s in degree with a focus on eduteaching degree.” cating students in biology, Sachs, Baker and Assochemistry or math at the ciate Professor and Chair of high school level. the Chemistry Department The program began in Kathy Stickney worked to2009 as the Woodrow gether to research and create Wilson Teaching Fellowa 60-page proposal for the ship and has had about grant. They were required 70 students graduate. The to submit a description of Woodrow Wilson Teaching the project, specific budget Fellowship pulled out of allocations, documentation Indiana, according to Direcfrom their partner schools tor of the Teach (STEM)³ and more. Sachs, Baker Program Deb Sachs, so there and Stickney submitted SACHS was a need to look for fundthe proposal in Septeming elsewhere. ber 2016. The grant was “In order to continue what we think is awarded to the Teach (STEM)³ Program a very valuable experience and also help in the spring. meet the critical need for STEM teachers, “We were so excited for the future of we applied then for a grant from the Na- the Teach (STEM)³ Program,” Stickney
said. “This funding just means the world to us.” According to Stickney, they were attracted to the grant because it requires them to give 60 percent of the money to the students. This will be in the form of stipends that will cover the full cost of tuition, with a stipulation that the students must teach at a school with a high need for STEM teachers for their first two years. “It’s very difficult with a residency program at a master’s level for someone to leave their job or not be working and pay tuition on top of that,” Sachs said. The other 40 percent will be used to pay the clinical faculty and pay for the mentorship program. After students graduate from the Teach (STEM)³ Program, they continue to receive mentoring from the university for two years. Sachs, Baker and Stickney hope to fill the high need for secondary STEM educators and also inspire students to pursue a career in STEM.
“There’s a lot of high-tech industry in Indianapolis and Indiana, and so we need to establish a pipeline to bring educated students into these high-tech jobs,” Stickney said. “We really want to get students excited about science, math and technology at the high school level....” Sachs, Baker and Stickney said they received a lot of help and support from Dean of the Shaheen College of Arts & Sciences Jennifer Drake and School of Education Interim Dean and Associate Professor of Secondary Education Colleen Mulholland. “I think what else is really unique is that this is a really strong collaboration between the School of [Education] and the Shaheen College of Arts and Sciences,” Sachs said. “So we work together, which is why that grant is so nice to have—a chemistry and a biology professor and an education professor working together to bring that to campus. And an NSF Noyce Grant brings with it some national recognition.”