get tenure

And so far I seem to be doing alright as far as this goal goes, but I can’t rest on my laurels until it is accomplished – and by then, I don’t expect to be resting (ok, perhaps just a little bit in the sense of less worry being associated with it) much either.

When a person is hired as a professor, they are either tenure-track or not tenure-track. If they are not tenure-track, they can be fired at any time for any reason – including budget cuts, program cuts, institutional reorganization, and so on.

If a person is tenure-track, if they work a certain number of years and are not dismissed from the position during that time, then they are granted tenure.

A person with tenure can not be fired for any of the above reasons mentioned. They have their job for as long as they choose, and they only lose their job if they do something horribly wrong. And if they do something that might lead to the loss of their job, a (often public) hearing must be heard, similar to a court case, in which they get to defend their actions or at least argue that it should not be a basis for the loss of their job.

Tenure is the ultimate in job security – with tenure, your boss has to justify to you and others why it is that you’re being fired, and those reasons have to be in terms of your conduct. Without tenure, you are subject to the usual job security issues like being fired because of budget cutbacks, etc…

That is why I want tenure. It will take me a few more years, but it should feel good to have it when I get it.