Tenure shouldn't protect faculty who are 'no longer needed,' UW System president says

The Wisconsin State Journal reports:

The head of the University of Wisconsin System praised the decision to remove faculty tenure protections from state law in an email this spring that now threatens to further widen divisions between professors and top administrators.

UW System President Ray Cross made the comment in a March 7 message to Regent John Behling, who led a process to write new tenure policies that was criticized by professors, days before the Board of Regents approved the rules at a contentious meeting.

The new policy allows chancellors to discontinue programs for academic reasons and fire tenured professors — a change that represents weaker job protections for faculty, who warn the rules could be used to lay off professors as cash-strapped UW campuses absorb state funding cuts.

In Cross’ email, which UW officials released Monday, the System president said tenure should not protect faculty “who are no longer needed in a discipline.”

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