A bill that would have put policy on handling tenure at the state’s public colleges and universities into state statute was rejected by the state Senate.
Sen. Todd Beard (R-Williston) said the bill would have required the state Board of Higher Education to adopt policies for the colleges to conduct tenure track reviews.
"They have to define the advancement criteria for tenure," Beard said. "They have to establish a procedure for annual evaluations for non-tenure track and tenured faculty by the president of the institution. For post-tenure evaluations, they have to be informed of annual evaluations to be conducted by a committee appointed by the president of the institution. That post-tenure evaluation has to be completed within the first three years. After that, they're under review every five years."
But Sen. Jonathan Sickler (R-Grand Forks) told the Senate the Board has already been working on tenure policies. He also said the bill does not include due process regarding appeals.
"So if a faculty member has a concern with the review that has been given to them, under current practice they have a 'due process' ability to appeal that," Sickler said. "The process suggested in this bill does not include basic due process rights that exist in may other businesses, and certainly in other state agencies."
The vote on HB 1437 was 20 yes, 26 no. It had earlier passed the House.
