Rescinded — 09/29/09 » Editorials » Daily Independent (Ashland, KY)

Editorials

Discussion

September 28, 2009

Rescinded — 09/29/09

Negative from eliminating tenure outweigh the positives

Anonymous The Daily Independent Mon Sep 28, 2009, 04:15 PM EDT

Board of regents members of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System have decided the negatives of eliminating tenure outweigh the positives. Thus, the KCTCS board Friday voted unanimously to rescind a decision made in the spring to eliminate tenure for faculty hired on or after July 1.

Friday’s vote came five days after Kentucky Attorney General Assembly Jack Conway issued an advisory opinion that found the KCTCS board of regents did not have the authority to refuse tenure for faculty hired after June 30. Conway said state law mandates that new faculty in the system must have some path toward tenure.

Conway’s opinion was just that — an opinion that did not carry the force of law. However, its issuance virtually guaranteed a prolonged court battle over tenure, and that possibility is apparently what prompted the KCTCS board to have a change of heart.

“Although we disagree with the attorney general’s opinion and believe it is the board’s right to set policies and procedures related to personnel, we believe it is time to move forward with the agenda of KCTCS to transform the lives of our students and the commonwealth,” said board chairman Thomas Zawacki, following the vote. “It is time to heal and work together for the common good of our students.”

Translation: While the board believes it has the right to end tenure, it does not think the advantages of ending tenure are so great that it is worth fighting in court for. The turmoil a long court battle over tenure would cause on the campuses of the 16 community and technical colleges are not worth the advantages that may be gained from eliminating tenure.

At the time of the board’s decision to end tenure for new faculty we could see how no tenure could give the college more flexibility in eliminating positions and programs that no longer are needed, and we supported the decision.

However, we also agree that the amazing growth of the community and technical college system is the great success story in higher education in Kentucky as more people than ever are getting their first taste of college life or learning critical job skills at the community and technical colleges.

That’s what Zawacki was talking about when he said it was time for the board to put the tenure decision behind it and “move forward” with the college’s primary task of providing quality instruction to students to help assure their success in life.

By restoring tenure, the board has ended the debate on a highly controversial issue. As Zawacki said, “It is time to heal and work together.”

Text Only

Editorials

Earmarks again?
Immediately, following the midterm elections of 2010 which saw Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and capture seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican leaders in Congress announced they had heard the voice of the voters and vowed to cease using “earmarks,” the name given to appropriations slipped into bills by influential legislators without a vote.

May 26, 2012
Best in the nation
It may surprise many readers that Newsweek’s “best high school in America” is located right here in Kentucky and is open to selected students throughout the state, but then the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green is hardly your typical high school. In fact, it would be impossible for even the best public high schools to emulate the amazing success of students at the Gatton Academy.

May 25, 2012
After the vote
We offer today a few reflections on the messages voters sent in Tuesday’s primary election in Kentucky.

May 24, 2012
A mild winter
As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, long hailed as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, we pause to reflect upon the winter that wasn’t.

May 23, 2012
Devices banned
Emergency breathing devices that tests have proven unreliable are being phased out under a directive issued by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, MSHA has given mine operators more than 18 months to remove all the air packs from underground mines.

May 22, 2012
A free weekend
In an effort to promote increased recreational use of the two lakes in the Daniel Boone National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service will offer free fishing and boating during the first weekend in June.

May 22, 2012
Ho-hum election
Psst! Want to know a secret? There’s a primary election Tuesday. And it’s right here in Kentucky! However, there has been so little interest in this election, that Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the state’s top election official, is predicting that only betwixen 10 and 12 percent of the state’s eligible voters will take the time to go to the polls tomorrow.

May 21, 2012
A real rush job
By giving first reading approval to two identical ordinances creating the Northeast Regional Jail Authority, elected leaders in Boyd and Carter counties are reviving a 30-year-old political issue — only this time with different results.

May 20, 2012
KCTC leads way
The ability of Kentucky to compete with other states and the rest of the world for the good jobs of tomorrow keeps improving by degrees.

May 19, 2012
Slow decline?
Louisville’s Churchill Downs is seeing its shortest spring meets since 1975, and some owners, trainers and breeders fear they could get even shorter. That is unless the Kentucky General Assembly has a change of heart and gives the home of the Kentucky Derby the option of increasing its nonracing revenue by offering new forms of gambling.

May 18, 2012
More Editorials Headlines

Editorials

Search Results

Discussion

Rescinded — 09/29/09

Negative from eliminating tenure outweigh the positives

Site Map

Contact Us