LETTER: Schmooze Clause

Can somebody tell me -- what's up with this tenure thing? Scholarship, intellect, student interaction and ambition cannot be requisites for an approved application; English professor Sandra Paquet -- key in my decision to come to Penn -- English professor Arkady Plotnitsky and History professor Dain Borges obviously have the above -- their work and student support of them blatantly indicates such. Maybe the University's tenure committees should add a schmooze clause to tenure applications: "Essential to all bids -- each candidate must complete the following: five to ten cocktail parties, excellent opportunities to meet and impress tenured faculty and friends; six to eigh lectures and/or readings of works-in-progress -- ooh, nice way to slide some scholarship in between the party thing; finally, pick your favorite tenure committee person and ply him or her with culinary treats, the best way to the committee's heart . . . " I know economics plays a part in these decisions; I also understand that some folks are simply not up to snuff. I do not understand the pseudo-political clash of personalities and obvious vote mongering in which tenure candidates are forced to engage. As a graduate student, I am required -- by my desire for intellectual excellence and by my professors' interest in shaping my thinking -- to produce insightful and polished work. If I fail or even fall short, I have to make corrections until I get it right. Tenure applicants appear to be strung along with encouraging dialogues, only to be rudely awakened at tenure time. This makes one question the University's commitment to the overall quality of its faculty and its alleged dedication to increasing scholarship in underrepresented areas. Maybe if all tenure applications and reviews were open to the public, tenure committees would be embarrassed into bashing their decisions solely on scholarship, intellect, student interaction and ambition. Maybe it's a University thing and I just don't understand. RHONDA FREDERICK PhD candidate English

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.