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Syracuse University’s Senate reported a minor decrease in the percentage of tenured and tenure-track professors, which dropped from 50.1% in 2022 to 49.5% in 2023. Full-time faculty increased from 16.8% in 2022 to 17.6%.

Since 2016, the Senate’s Academic Affairs Committee has gathered faculty data annually and compiled it into the Faculty Census. The 2023-2024 census was presented during the Senate’s March meeting.

Tenure is the “indefinite appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency and program discontinuation,” according to the American Association of University Professors.

The AAUP found in 2022 that 54% of institutions surveyed reported replacing tenure lines in the last five years with “contingent appointments,” or non-tenure and tenure-track employment — a figure that was at 17% in 2004. In 2020, the New York Times reported that the percentage of tenure-track professors was on a slow decline dating back to the 1970s.

“We believe that academic freedom is under threat the more that our faculty don’t have tenure,” said Matt Huber, president of SU’s chapter of AAUP and a geography professor in the Environment department.

According to SU’s faculty manual, “tenure is an integral part of sustaining the University’s commitment to the concepts underlying academic freedom.” The job security of tenure allows faculty to speak about and research controversial issues without the threat of discipline or censorship.

As the number of tenured and tenure-track faculty around the country decrease, concerns about the limitation of academic freedom and increased workloads on non-tenured professors and students are rising. At the University of Michigan-Flint, tenure-track faculty unionized last week, citing a lack of a voice.

SU plans to release a university statement on academic freedom, the “Syracuse Statement,” which was announced during last December’s Senate meeting. A university spokesperson previously confirmed last month that there is no official release date for the statement.

As conversations about academic freedom continue at SU, discussions about tenure have also occurred at Senate meetings. Members of SU’s AAUP said that having a high number of tenured professors allows for more academic freedom.

SU’s colleges with the highest tenure and tenure-track percentages are the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at 71.3% and the College of Engineering of Computer Science at 62.7%. The College of Professional Studies at 0.0% and the School of Information Studies at 32.7% are the lowest percentages.

In 2021, Inside Higher Ed reported that SU had begun hiring 69 new tenure-track professors as part of its Cluster Hires Initiative, a program that groups scholars with similar research topics into multidisciplinary groups.

SU’s percentage of tenured staff exceeds the proportion reported at “peer institutions,” according to the Faculty Census. SU’s 49.5% of tenured faculty is greater than Boston College’s 39% and Georgetown University’s 27%.

Huber said tenured faculty who leave and retire are not being replaced by other tenure-track professors, they are being replaced by teaching professors.

The number of appointed teaching professors and professors of practice at SU all increased in 2023. The university reported appointing 130 assistant teaching professors, 69 associate teaching professors, 20 teaching professors and 82 professors of practice.

The number of professors of practice increased by 15%, from 71 to 82, and the number of part-time instructional faculty increased by 3%, from 597 to 615. The total number of faculty increased from 1,836 in 2022 to 1,875 in 2023.

The census reported that 54.6% of faculty identified as male and 45.4% identified as female. According to the census, 66.3% of faculty are white, 11% are Asian, 5.7% are Black or African American, 4.9% are “non-resident,” 3.8% are Hispanic or Latinx, 1.1% are two or more races and 6.9% are unknown.

According to the census, 38.9% of academic credits were taught by tenured and tenure-track professors, 30.3% by full-time faculty and 30.7% by part-time faculty. The number of credits taught by tenured and tenure-track professors is highest for associate professors, and credits taught by part-time faculty increased by 3% this year.

“Free inquiry, free expression, and open dissent are critical for student learning and the advancement of knowledge,” the AAUP website reads. “Therefore, it is important to have systems in place to protect academic freedom. Tenure serves that purpose.”

Published on April 29, 2024 at 2:37 pm

Contact Griffin: gbrown19@syr.edu