The word tenure commonly refers to a senior academic’s contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.

The key term here is “just cause.” What qualifies exactly as just cause? Declining student performance from semester to semester? The number of students dropping the class throughout the semester?

When I went to my advisor to discuss the problems I was having with a gen. ed. class this semester, I began by explaining why I was struggling. He stopped me and asked who the professor was. I told him, and his reaction was one of recognition and complete understanding. I had to offer him no further explanation.

My advisor was very helpful, had a plan for me locked and loaded based on his experience with this professor. I left that meeting feeling much less stressed and vindicated that I was not part of the problem.

In further discussion during the meeting and based on my advisors clear familiarity with this individual, I’m certain I am not the first student to talk to him and very likely many other advisors with this exact problem. Or the fifth student; Or even the 30th, and I’m sure that number continues to go up the further one would go back through the years.

This is just one example; however, I’m certain that almost everyone here has had at least one professor that would fall into this category. So why are thousands of our dollars going to pay the salaries of these teachers every year that should have been fired long ago?

The only reason I can see is that they have tenure, and even though they may be guilty of all of the negative teaching behaviors, it bafflingly still does not qualify as “just cause.”

These types of problems are not the norm, and tenure is something that is important for several reasons. For example, it helps protect academic freedom that teachers have in the classroom. It is important for teachers to be allowed to construct their own lesson plans, teach subject matter that may be considered objectionable by certain authorities or have an opinion that goes against the prevailing academic one. Teachers shouldn’t have to worry about being fired because they teach in unconventional ways or discuss unpopular subject matter.

Situations like the one I have described above, however, should qualify as just cause to fire professors who has clearly demonstrated that their best days of teaching are behind them.