EDITORIAL: Professors are teachers, too

Penn needs to do more to emphasize the role of teaching as a component in decisions about tenure. It is also a means of securing the services of top-notch faculty members, and of making room for promising younger talent by asking others to move on. Serving both of these goals effectively means basing tenure decisions on two criteria: The body of original work that the professor has produced, and the skill and dedication that they bring to the classroom. To be considered for tenure, professors must produce original work of a quality and in a quantity that satisfies their department's standards. And rightly so. Institutions burdened with subpar tenured faculty cannot compete as effectively for funding or for students. But Penn must do more to ensure that the tenure process rewards excellence in the classroom, as well. After all, an institution's tenured faculty will largely determine the tone and quality of the undergraduate experience. Well-regarded instructors who fail to achieve outside of the classroom should not be considered for tenure, though it may be appropriate to find other means of retaining their services. But professors who are producing original work should not be allowed to rest on the laurels of that achievement alone. The tenure process must raise the bar when it comes to evaluating their performance in the classroom. Of course, if Penn is to insist effectively on classroom performance as a criterion for receiving tenure, professors must be given the opportunity to invest more time in their teaching while they work to meet the requirements for tenure consideration. Yale has a 10-year tenure track, giving professors more time to both publish and focus on teaching. Johns Hopkins provides a probationary period for faculty who have demonstrated excellence in the classroom but have not yet met standards for academic achievement. Penn should explore these and other options, as well. Ultimately, more must be done to ensure that the quality of instruction remains high.