Sens. Mark Chelgren, Robert Dvorsky and Brad Zaun discuss the pros and cons of banning faculty tenure at Iowa's three state universities. Bill Petroski/The Register
A bill to get rid of faculty tenure at Iowa's three state universities is probably dead in the Iowa Senate, although arguments over the merits of tenure are far from over.
A three-member Senate education subcommittee failed to advance Senate File 41 on Thursday, which likely dooms it for the rest of the 2018 session. The Iowa Board of Regents strongly opposed the bill, warning that abolishing tenure — which offers professors a permanent job contract — would seriously hamper Iowa's ability to attract quality faculty members.
"Tenure is a status that we try to achieve. It is a capstone to their career. It says that you have arrived, academically," said Keith Saunders, state relations officer for the Iowa Board of Regents. If tenure is abolished, "Iowa will become an island" among its academic peers in the United States, he cautioned.
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Saunders pointed out that more than $1 billion in external funding was received by Iowa's three public universities during the 2017 state fiscal year from sources such as the federal government, corporations, private foundations and non-profit organizations. About $700 million of the outside money was for research.
"That would not happen without a tenure system," Saunders said.
But Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, a parent of state university students and the bill's sponsor, complained of personal stories he's heard about tenured faculty showing up for class on the first day of a semester, then turning the job over to a teaching assistant for the rest of the course.
He also voiced concerns about sabbaticals offered to Iowa faculty members on obscure topics. Two examples from a publication he cited included music making in U.S. prisons and an examination of women’s roles in the evolution of French cinematic comedy.
Zaun said he was skeptical that the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa won't be able to attract top-notch faculty without a promise of tenure.
"I think that this is about the students, and I do not believe that a professor in our colleges should have a job guaranteed for the rest of their life," Zaun said.
Sen. Robert Dvorsky, D-Coralville, who served on the subcommittee, opposed the bill and defended faculty tenure. He said Iowa is fortunate to have top research universities in Iowa City and Ames, as well as what he described as a fine comprehensive Midwestern university in Cedar Falls.
"The quality is amazing and I would hate to do anything to diminish that," Dvorsky said.
The Senate bill would specifically direct the Board of Regents to prohibit the establishment or the continuation of tenure at the Regents' universities. It also says that a provision in state law that authorizes community college administrations to establish quality faculty planning committees should not be construed to establish a tenure system in community colleges.
Rachel Dykstra Boon, the Board of Regents chief academic officer, told lawmakers that the board takes its oversight responsibilities seriously and that tenure does not provide immunity from termination for faculty members. Research is important, as well as teaching, and faculty members are informed of expectations for their work, she said.
"Student concerns are a top priority," said Kevin Kregel, associate provost for faculty at the University of Iowa. John Vallentine, associate provost for faculty at UNI, expressed a similar view about the seriousness in which students' concerns are considered.
"The students are paying tuition. They deserve to have a quality education," Vallentine said.
The reward of tenure is the ability to freely engage in scholarly pursuits without an institution imposing its perspective upon the faculty member, said Dawn Bratsch-Prince, associate provost for faculty at Iowa State University. She added, "Tenure is something that is earned and it has privileges, but it does have responsibilities."
Sens. Mark Chelgren, R-Ottumwa, and Jeff Edler, R-State Center, did not sign subcommittee documents required to advance Zaun's bill. But Chelgren and Edler both said afterward they were still studying the measure and left the door open for further consideration, which would allow the measure to be discussed by the full Senate Education Committee.
"My concern is first and foremost that in the State of Iowa there is no special class of citizen," Chelgren said. "Therefore, I am concerned that tenure separates a class of individuals and gives them special privileges."
However, Chelgren added that the information provided by the Board of Regents Thursday "goes a long way" towards alleviating his concerns.