Editor: Keith Davis Writers: Dave Maley Publisher: Office of Public Information Volume 22, No.12   February 28, 2000

Trustees Make Changes in Tenure Cap, Board Bylaws At its February meeting the Ithaca College Board of Trustees voted to eliminate the tenure cap policy, made changes to board bylaws, and approved naming the communications program in Los Angeles after a major benefactor. For many years the College has had a policy whereby the number of tenured faculty in any planning unit could not exceed 75 percent of the total full-time faculty for that unit. The rationale for imposing a tenure cap had been to prevent a department from becoming completely tenured and thus to provide flexibility in the hiring of new faculty. Following months of research and discussion, led by Malek and faculty trustee Elaine Leeder, professor of sociology, the board was presented with a proposal to eliminate the cap, which trustees approved effective for the 2000–2001 academic year. "The existence of a tenure cap produces a serious competitive disadvantage in recruiting and retaining first-rate faculty," says Malek. "All other things being equal, a job candidate who receives offers from two institutions — one with a tenure cap and one without — will almost certainly accept the offer from the institution with no cap. Applicant pools are often smaller and weaker than available statistics suggest they should be." Malek says there is no question that students will benefit from the change, that faculty morale will improve greatly, and that the College will be more competitive in recruiting, hiring, and retaining junior faculty. "When one considers that the full-time faculty is only 55 percent tenured, that we have a ‘graying’ faculty, that we now have an attractive retirement program, that the tenure system appears to be well managed, and that we will always have a number of full-time non–tenure eligible positions, it seems clear that there is very little likelihood of Ithaca College’s having a very high percentage of tenured full-time faculty in the foreseeable future." Trustees also approved changes in board bylaws, including the adoption of term limits. The length of terms has also been changed — previously they were for 5 years, but now the first term will be 4 years long and subsequent terms 3 years each, for a possible maximum of 10 consecutive years on the board. In order to ensure an orderly transition period, current trustees will fall under the new bylaws based on the member’s length of service. Trustees also voted to establish the Ithaca College James B. Pendleton Center in Los Angeles, giving a formal name to the communications program in that city. A Hollywood interior designer who died in 1995, Pendleton left a bequest that ultimately totaled over $15 million, the largest-ever single gift to the College. Opened in 1994, the program gives juniors and seniors in the Roy H. Park School of Communications the opportunity to spend a semester or summer combining classroom study with internships in a variety of media and communications-related fields. A ceremony to dedicate the center — which includes classrooms, a computer room, a library, faculty offices, and a student lounge — will be held on March 29 in Los Angeles.

ITHACA | Back Issues | Table of Contents | NEWS Home | Publication Schedule | Letter to the Editor Created by Andrejs Ozolins. Updated 25. .Feb. 2000