Tenure not only estimates a professor’s experience and qualification, but also ensures job security.

“Tenure protects a professor’s academic freedom,” said John Wolfskill, associate professor for the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

Appointing faculty members for tenure is the most critical decision made by an academic department, a college and the university, according to the rules outlined in the NIU Constitution and Bylaws.

The most common distribution in salary evaluation for tenure-track faculty includes 40 percent teaching, 40 percent research and 20 percent service.

“Tenure-track faculty members work to make sure there’s a balance between teaching and conducting research,” said Jon Carnahan, professor and chair in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “Some faculty members are more teaching orientated and spend a larger portion of their time teaching, and some have duties that involve extensive research and a less demanding course load.”

Typically, tenure-track faculty members conduct independent research, or they work with a research team, graduate students or hired staff-researchers.

A tenured professor may not be dismissed solely because of the content or ideology of their research, Wolfskill said.

“A tenured professor may conduct a more long-range program of scholarship without the fear of being dismissed if results are not immediately forthcoming,” he said.

While tenure suspends arbitrary firing within academic departments, it’s also a recruitment technique.

“Most university faculty members have salaries that fall below the industrial market value. Tenure is used as an enticement to draw people to work at universities,” Carnahan said.

Departments look for diversity in an individual’s research experience and academic specialization when recruiting for tenure-track faculty.

“Departments want professors to be complimentary of each other,” Carnahan said.