We come to De Anza College to take classes, get college credits, and, if we are lucky, learn something. Instructors are an essential part of this. “Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more,” wrote reporter Bob Talbert. We all have had at least one instructor,who we wished would fall into a black hole and never reappear in class again. An instructor may be rude or inconsiderate, pick on students in class, pick favorites, or he or she may have a flawed teaching method. And perhaps the most unfortunate thing is that most of the time these teachers won’t be censured. Why? Tenure.
Tenure is the contractual right instructors have to keep their jobs, and is given at De Anza after an extensive four-year review. According to the Tenure Review Handbook for 2010-2013, the probationary evaluations by a committee “shall be based upon the committee member’s observations, discussions with the candidate, and review of pertinent written material, or other relevant first hand information known or observed by a committee member.” The committee also gets students to evaluate the instructor, at various times throughout the process.
However, there are several flaws with this system. the tenure review system claims to “recognize and encourage outstanding performance; improve satisfactory performance and further the growth of candidates who are performing satisfactorily; identify areas which might need improvement and provide useful feedback for consideration; and identify and document unsatisfactory performance and offer assistance in achieving the required improvement.” Yet these evaluations are as effective as the STAR testing given in elementary schools or the SATs; they are not a true measure of the instructor’s abilities.
The prospective instructor is told exactly when he or she will be evaluated for the various activities, giving him or her time to prepare his or her own responses and that of the students. This takes authenticity away from the results, as most actions and behaviors are sure to be practiced and rehearsed beforehand to impress the committee. Instructors are told ahead of time when they will be observed, when students will be surveyed, so they know when to put their best lesson forward.
Another issue is that instructors who have tenure can become relaxed in their standards and teaching methods, in a way that is detrimental to students. Tenured instructors are not necessarily held accountable for their teaching, nor is their academic status affected by student evaluations. A tenured instructor may choose to rest on his or her laurels rather than keep abreast of developments in the field, or may focus less on teaching and more on publishing.
Finally, tenure can only be revoked in extreme cases, normally only following severe misconduct by the instructor. The revocation process is usually a lengthy and tedious procedure, and generally a waste of time. This is why instructors’ tenure should be re-evaluated every few years, randomly, and in a more thorough manner, to maintain the high standards of education valued at De Anza.
