Marvin Bartel on thu 14 nov 96
If I were the best teacher/artist/potter in the world and I was
offered a position at two universities, other things being equal, but one
school offered tenure and the other didn't, I would be less than bright to
accept a position at a place where tenure is not offered.
Conclusion: Doing away with tenure would, in the majority of
cases, lower the quality of the applicant pool for teaching positions.
Harvey Sadow on tue 19 nov 96
Marvin Bartel wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> If I were the best teacher/artist/potter in the world and I was
> offered a position at two universities, other things being equal, but one
> school offered tenure and the other didn't, I would be less than bright to
> accept a position at a place where tenure is not offered.
> Conclusion: Doing away with tenure would, in the majority of
> cases, lower the quality of the applicant pool for teaching positions.
You would be less than bright to accept a position at a place
with a tenure bound art department, too. In a few years you would
likely become the sacrificial lamb, no matter how good you were.
Further, if they did away with tenure, neither school would be offering
it, would they? This is not to say that I am against tenure. I just
wanted to flesh out the picture a little.
If ten to twenty years as a studio artist was one of the
reqiurements for perhaps half the teaching positions in any art
department, the whole issue might become irrelevant. We would have
tested our philosophies on ourselves, in the field, before imparting
them to students. We might be more open minded about the wide variety of
professional paths, having been down one or two ourselves. We would
begin our teaching careers at about the time that some of our colleagues
were in danger of burning out. We would bring art world contacts with us
to share with other faculty and graduating students. Locking into jobs
for the twenty years is not quite the same as locking in for fourty, and
half the jobs would turn over twice as fast. This is not offered to in
any way denegrate those who have dedicated their lives to the teaching
profession, and whose careers reflect the quest for excellence in that
pursuit. It's just a thought...
Regards, Harvey Sadow
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