2/17/2005

And Now...Churchill's Leap to a Tenured Position is Under the Microscope

The Rocky Mountain News is reporting there might be some discrepancies where Churchill's tenure is concerned:

Churchill had been working for more than a decade in a program that helps minority students when then-Vice Chancellor Kaye Howe recommended him for a one-semester appointment teaching Indian studies.

Eleven months later, Churchill leaped to a coveted tenured position.

"This just doesn't compute for me," Howe said Wednesday of Churchill's quick rise to tenure. "I don't understand that."

Tenure is usually granted only after a "laborious" process, she said.

A discussion point at that time was over the fact that Churchill didn't have a doctorate...

"I'm sure that what I was thinking was that Ward, with his involvement in scholarship in Native American areas was one of those people who should probably . . . be given the opportunity to demonstrate that he might have the credentials to be a successful faculty person."

But, Howe said, she wasn't talking about tenure when she recommended Churchill for a job.

"It was for one term. Why not give somebody an opportunity when it looks like they have been very active in scholarship?" she said.

Curiouser and curiouser...

DR