Regent Craig Lang wants discussion of tenure

AMES - One state regent wants to talk about the tenure system for university professors and how it drives costs at Iowa's three regent universities.

Regent Craig Lang, of Brooklyn, said he isn't looking to get rid of tenure and he doesn't want a “witch hunt.” Tenure does provide a safety net for university professors' research and academic work, he said.

But it's logical, given the budget constraints at the three universities, to discuss tenure and how it is a driver of annual costs, Lang said.

“My concern is, let's get an idea of what the real costs are,” Lang said Thursday at the state Board of Regents meeting in Ames. “Let's investigate a changing of policy that gives us some flexibility in costs.”

Lang made comments about tenure during the meeting and to reporters during break, after the board heard the annual report on tenure and heard about updates to each university's post-tenure review programs, which provide annual reviews and peer reviews.

Lang said he often hears from the public that tenure means protection for faculty and that it's followed by automatic salary increases. He would like to see greater public scrutiny of tenure. Faculty should be subject to the reviews just as people in other industries are, and Lang said he's happy to know that regular peer review is performed after faculty members get tenure.

“I think we need to talk about this structure, this safe zone that exists and make sure it's been thoroughly scrubbed,” Lang said.

Regents President David Miles said he thinks talking about tenure is a good discussion for the board to have. There may be models of tenure around the country that make it work more efficiently, Miles said. A discussion also could be a way to explain that tenure “doesn't just mean a free pass. You still have to perform, you're still evaluated,” Miles said.