This article addresses five misconceptions relating to academic tenure, arguing against the notions that tenure is no longer necessary for the defense of academic freedom; is simply job security and exchangeable for other benefits; diminishes academic quality; is no longer feasible because of the elimination of mandatory retirement; and is a…

This article discusses the faculty appointment system at Evergreen State College (Washington), which does not have tenure, academic departments, or academic ranks, in light of an ideal system that might have a core of long-term faculty supplemented by short-term faculty. It considers the need to balance institutional flexibility with faculty…