A Big Chunk of Professors Flunked U of Florida Post-Tenure Review
After the state required post-tenure reviews, roughly one-fifth of the UF professors evaluated in the first round were either found lacking, decided to leave or chose to give up research—and likely their tenure with it. At Florida State, by contrast, all professors passed muster.
Last year, Republican lawmakers in Florida passed a law requiring post-tenure reviews for professors at public universities. That wasn’t unique. But as with other policies, how administrators implement post-tenure review matters—and the board of the State University System of Florida determined that professors who receive the lowest review ranking, “unsatisfactory,” will “receive a notice of termination.” Now, the first round of post-tenure reviews has been completed. And the flagship University of Florida’s process produced a figure that has raised eyebrows among its faculty: About one-fifth of reviewed professors failed to pass muster or gave up defending their tenure.
“There’s no mincing words: Tenure’s gone. It’s been replaced by a five-year contract,” said Meera Sitharam, president of the United Faculty of Florida union’s UF chapter. She said UF’s implementation of the policy “really gives them a chance to get rid of people they don’t like.”
