A Post-Tenure Review Policy with Real Consequences

In 1999 Iowa State University’s faculty senate approved a post-tenure review policy that required each tenured professor to be reviewed at least every seven years, but without a method of enforceable consequences the policy was mostly symbolic—a compromise between the board of regents’ call for greater accountability and the faculty agreeing to a policy with the fewest consequences possible. A budget crisis and the board of regents’ subsequent demand for a stronger policy prompted a reexamination of the issue. The result: a formative, peer-led, post-tenure review process that holds faculty accountable for their performance.