Wisconsin Regents Approve Post-Tenure Policies Condemned by Faculty

University of Wisconsin system regents on Thursday approved a new policy mandating that administrators conduct “independent, substantive reviews” of tenured faculty members every five years, The Journal Sentinel reports. While top administrators already have authority over post-tenure reviews, faculty critics have worried aloud that the change — which makes administrators’ duties in the area explicit — will make it easier for professors to be fired.

The new policy comes amid longstanding angst over the strength of tenure in Wisconsin. Last year, tenure protections were stripped from state law, and professors have criticized the systemwide policies that replaced those protections as insufficiently weak.

System officials have said the changes approved Thursday were necessary because policies approved earlier this year did not mandate independent reviews, which help “ensure that faculty members receive unbiased and impartial treatment,” according to system materials quoted by the Journal Sentinel.

Faculty critics have countered that the move takes yet more power out of the hands of faculty members already battered by poor morale and perceived threats to academic freedom.