Community college tenure could be ditched under new proposal

Ryan Alessi's move to the Higher Ed beat has produced an immediate jump in quality stories about our colleges. Great move by H-L. Meanwhile P-12 coverage remains uninspired.

This from Ryan at H-L:

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System's board of regents has launched a spirited debate over potentially abandoning the tenure system for future faculty members.

At their meeting Thursday and Friday, the regents are giving a first public airing of the idea of hiring new professors with contracts of up to four years, rather than the tenure track that essentially establishes faculty members for life.

The board can't approve such a move this month because it is up for discussion only and couldn't be acted upon until its March meeting at the earliest, said KCTCS spokeswoman Terri Giltner.

But it is an idea that is being floated as an option to help the system handle "rapid shifts in the job market, emerging new job markets, and state budget cuts which underscored the need for flexibility," according to the board of regents' documents attached to its meeting agenda.

The idea is being met with opposition by the system's faculty members, who worry that ditching the tenure system could hinder KCTCS's chances of attracting top-flight professors to many of its campuses...