I would support a revision of the concept of tenure to a degree. Professors are given a tremendous reward with tenure and I think (though it is unfortunate to consider that this should be a condition) that the performance of a professor should be a factor in the award. Perhaps tenure should bring with it periodical reviews whereby if a professor has “petered out” somewhat in their career, they can be reviewed against a scale where there is the possibility of a negative outcome. The professor has job security still but perhaps is somehow held accountable (bonuses?) to his institution. Maybe a multi-tiered approach to tenure would keep competitive edge as part of the overall equation.

In a tenured position a professor becomes the beneficiary and the school becomes the benefactor. The prof is therefore honor-bound by the relationship to continue to produce some things. These of course are, learned students, research, and possibly intellectual property in the way of innovative solutions.

Finally, a successful career should be more valuable than the cost of the tenure. The very fact that a professor is being considered for tenure should transcend all boundaries to dissect the body of work that the prof has produced in his time at the institution. A tenure assessment then becomes a “payment plan” for a committed individual that is already worth the investment.

Keep Tenure, Canadian Universities, but award it well. this is no place for politics (political sciences notwithstanding) nor is it a place for cronyism.

Kind Regards!

I also think that our Canadian teachers at all levels should have to have job evaluations done every five years or so. This could be done as is in the private sector and weed out the incompetent and lazy individuals.