Board of Regents Approves Controversial Changes to Tenure Rules

The Georgia Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s 26 public universities, voted Wednesday to make significant changes to tenure for college professors.

The changes will directly affect 7,500 tenured professors in Georgia. Some of them have been protesting in person at regents meetings and over social media, arguing the move could curtail academic freedom and encourage professors to seek work outside of the state.

Tenure is a status granted to some professors that gives them job protection. It is intended to preserve their academic freedom to pursue research that could raise hackles with administrators, politicians or donors.

But the regents said Georgia’s system had not been updated since its creation in 1996 and did not do enough to ensure professors were being held accountable for the quality of their work.

Read more: https://flagpole.com/featured/2021/10/13/board-of-regents-approves-controversial-changes-to-tenure-rules/