North Dakota enacts tenure policy requiring master’s, advanced degrees

BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education enacted a tenure policy requiring a master’s or other advanced degree for professors to receive tenure.

The new policy passed the board in a unanimous vote Thursday and will not affect current tenured positions in the North Dakota University System, applying only to future tenure appointments.

“From my perspective, I think we have tackled a mountain when it comes to tenure,” said Kevin Black, chair of the State Board of Higher Education. “I think we have addressed this in a way that assures accountability is part of every aspect of tenure moving forward.”

Tenure in the North Dakota University System is generally awarded after six years of service for full-time faculty, in part to ensure academic freedom, providing some protection for teaching, writing or researching on controversial topics. Tenured faculty can still be removed for cause.

The new policy would not prevent an institution from hiring a faculty member on a tenure-track position that does not have a master’s degree or higher. Those faculty would need to meet the new requirements to become a tenured faculty member, said Chris Pieske, chief compliance officer for the University System

Tenured faculty must complete a committee review within the first three years of receiving a tenured position and every five years thereafter, according to the policy.

Lisa Johnson, deputy commissioner for academic and student affairs for the University System, said the new policy would affect some faculty in the state’s two-year colleges that may not have advanced degrees, such as welding, carpentry and culinary arts programs, among others.

The policy also states colleges and universities may use special job titles for faculty members with “special appointments that recognize faculty members’ longevity, work experience and/or expertise in their field of study.”

“In the system today, at none of our community colleges are they utilizing the title of a professor of practice,” Johnson said. “They might implement something that sort of gives them sort of this non-tenure track designation.”

She said the titled position could come with multi-year contracts and avoid the post-tenure review process.

“Moving forward, the trades and the two-years are going to continue to be an area of movement for higher education,” said Danita Bye, a member of the board, during the meeting. “I appreciate the inclusion that institutions may use job titles for faculty with special appointments.”

The board also waived the second reading of the new policy and enacted it immediately instead of pushing the final vote to a future meeting. Johnson said this was done because the North Dakota Council of College Faculties, made up of faculty members across the 11 university system campuses, signed off on the new policy before it was brought to the full board.

“They’ve been meeting since this fall on who should be eligible for tenure,” Johnson said. “The definition largely came from them.”

Lisa Montplaisir, faculty advisor for the board and member of the Council of College Faculty, said the council vote to advance the tenure policy was not unanimous. She said believes the issue will continue to be revisited.

“Tenure isn’t about job security,” Montplaisir said. “It’s about the academic freedom for the faculty who are in those roles to be able to address what are sometimes referred to as controversial topics.”

She emphasized that tenured faculty are “let go” in North Dakota and across the country for cause and other reasons.

The new tenure policy will meet a July 1 deadline imposed by the North Dakota Legislature with the passage of House Bill 1437 last year that required the University System to create a uniform tenure policy for all of its institutions.

Any of the North Dakota University System’s 11 institutions may also set additional requirements for tenured positions, according to the policy.

Pieske said the new tenure policy could affect other policies, such as membership to the standing Committee on Faculty Rights, which only allows tenured faculty to become members, and those changes would be made as needed.

North Dakota Monitor reporter Michael Achterling can be reached at machterling@northdakotamonitor.com.