how long does a prof stay if he doesn't get tenure?

[bigalt]

Anyone know how it works in academia?

I just found out that my there's no way my advisor's getting tenure, so I'm wondering how long he'll stick around before he has/decides to leave.

 

[saxophonoia]

Depends on if he likes teaching there or not I guess.

 

[TwinkleToes77]

depends on how long they want to keep him around and how much he likes being there.

 

[bigalt]

oh, i always thought there was a usual time, like 6 years or so.

 

[Dowfen]

I think you get like some amount of time (5-6 years) and then you can apeal a couple times trying to get Tenure, then after that I think it's pretty much up.

However, I see more and more titles of "Lecturer" which wouldn't really imply they are trying to get Tenure, but just teach.

I'm interested in finding out more details, so if someone knows more that'd be great.

Eric

 

[saxophonoia]

Yeah I've been seeing a lot of "lecturers" especially in English departments.

 

[dullard]

As far as I know, there is no requirement that the professor leave. Generally you don't get tenure for one of the following reasons:
1) Not enough experience at the university. Prof just needs to wait another year or two.
2) Not enough publications. Prof just needs to get his/her butt in gear and produce something worth publishing. If that is not possible, maybe the prof needs to rethink his/her work.
3) Not liked by fellow faculty. I don't think there is much chance in this case of ever getting tenure at that school. So what is better, a life without tenure or leave for another school and restart the 6-10 year period trying to get tenure? That answer will vary from prof to prof.

 

[bigalt]

well, the professor certainly can't just stay as long as s/he wants to. i guess they keep on hiring them a couple years at a time until they don't want them anymore?

i think i remember a prof like that in undergrad, he was an utter failure but stuck around picking up the crap classes for a while. For the most part, though, from what I hear, as soon as a professor goes up for tenure and is rejected, they start looking for jobs.

I'm not sure if he knows how bad his outlook is (I just hear gossip from the other profs in the department), but even if he did he wouldn't tell us (his grad students) about it since he's not very open about that stuff.

I have the fortune of being almost finished, but some of the other guys in my lab I imagine will run into complications of the old boss decides to take off before they're done.

 

[shazbot]

i think my dad told me that at most schools, its a 6 year tenure track. So when you sign with a school, its w/ the assumption that you're going to apply for tenure at the end of 6 years, and if you don't get it, you move on to another school or something. i remember him working on his tenure way back when, and he had these 4" binders filled w/ stuff. Ugh, i could never write that much.

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: dullard
As far as I know, there is no requirement that the professor leave. Generally you don't get tenure for one of the following reasons:
1) Not enough experience at the university. Prof just needs to wait another year or two.
2) Not enough publications. Prof just needs to get his/her butt in gear and produce something worth publishing. If that is not possible, maybe the prof needs to rethink his/her work.
3) Not liked by fellow faculty. I don't think there is much chance in this case of ever getting tenure at that school. So what is better, a life without tenure or leave for another school and restart the 6-10 year period trying to get tenure? That answer will vary from prof to prof.

Excellent summary. I've seen all three happen, to an extent. One time, a Prof I knew eventually switched departments, and, IIRC, is probably tenured by now.

 

[dangereuxjeux]

At my school, if you are denied tenure, the maximum length of time that you can teach at the school is 10 years, after which you have to move on.