U. of Florida president Bernie Machen says UF “will quickly become a regional university at best” if it can't offer tenure
The Gainesville Sun
October 17, 2011
Gov. Rick Scott's comments this week about the state not needing more anthropology majors received the most attention, but changes to tenure that he's considering have the potential to impact faculty members across disciplines.
Scott is looking at changes similar to the so-called Texas plan, a set of seven proposals championed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry. They include basing most tenure decisions on student ratings of a professor's teaching ability and the number of students the professor has taught.
The idea has brought concerns from University of Florida faculty leaders and the university president. Tom Auxter, a UF philosophy professor and head of the statewide United Faculty of Florida union, says he sees the Texas plan's proposals as a way to eliminate tenure.
“They don't outright abolish tenure, but they do everything that they can to kill it,” he said. “Nobody's going to be deceived by it.”
At a meeting this week with Alachua County's legislative delegation, UF President Bernie Machen said that eliminating tenure would threaten UF's recruitment of faculty.
Machen warned lawmakers that UF “will quickly become a regional university at best” if the university can't offer tenure.
