Looks at how contracts impact on college faculty incentives to produce at high levels of quality and quantity. Focus is on the organizational and structural conditions that accompany tenure systems in academic organizations, on the associated motivational climate that is produced by either tenure or contract systems, and on the effect of…

In an effort to revitalize Bennington College (Vermont), its president recently fired 26 of 79 faculty members, reduced and reorganized academic departments and divisions, replaced tenure with multi-year contracts, and recruited new faculty. Some claim violation of academic freedom. Enrollment has increased, particularly among first-time students,…