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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 842 



upon the part of the members of such de- 

 partments. If this were done, the faculty, 

 the governing board and the public would 

 know that the president in the exercise of 

 his powers of recommendation has had the 

 advice of some responsible academic body, 

 and the cry of "ezardom," "tyranny," 

 "the powers of academic life and death," 

 in reference to the president, which in 

 most cases is wholly without foundation, 

 would be lessened. 



THE FACTS AS TO TENURE OP APPOINTMENT 



In general, the appointments of profess- 

 ors are "during good behavior," or "at 

 the pleasure of the board. ' ' In some insti- 

 tutions the appointments are of indefinite 

 tenure, or permanent. In all cases the 

 meaning is the same, that the appointment 

 is one for life to the age of retirement, 

 provided the appointee is efficient. 



The only variations from the above are 

 as follows: At the Catholic University, 

 professors may be appointed for an indefi- 

 nite period, for a specified time, on proba- 

 tion, or to serve a temporary purpose. At 

 Clark professors are appointed first for a 

 term of five years and if reappointed "at 

 the pleasure of the board." At Columbia 

 appointments to professorial rank are for 

 three years, or at the pleasure of the 

 board. Other institutions make occasional 

 appointments for a definite term. 



In general, the terms of appointment of 

 associate professors are the same as for 

 professors. (Here are included the junior 

 professors of Michigan.) The exceptions 

 are as follows: At Hopkins the associate 

 professor for the first five years has an 

 annual appointment, and thereafter on the 

 professorial basis. At Stanford associate 

 professors are appointed for five years. 

 Some institutions do not have the rank of 

 associate professor. 

 : Assistant professors are usually ap- 



pointed for a definite period, often for 

 three years, but sometimes a shorter or 

 longer period. The institutions varying 

 from the three-year term are as follows: 

 California, one year ; Catholic, period either 

 indefinite or determinate; Chicago, four 

 years; Columbia, one year (called junior 

 professors) ; Cornell, five years ; Harvard, 

 five years; Hopkins (associates), one year; 

 Kansas, annual for two years, thereafter 

 permanent; Illinois, permanent; Iowa, 

 permanent; Indiana, permanent; Minne- 

 sota, indefinite; Missouri, indefinite; Ne- 

 braska, permanent; Princeton, permanent; 

 preceptors with the rank of assistant pro- 

 fessor, for a specified term; Catholic and 

 Hopkins do not have assistant professors. 



It is notable that with the exception of 

 Princeton the institutions which at once 

 or almost immediately make the appoint- 

 ments of assistant professors for a perma- 

 nent or indefinite tenure are a group of 

 state universities in adjacent states — 

 Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, 

 Nebraska and Minnesota. For this geo- 

 graphic association I have no explanation 

 to offer, but doubtless a sufficiently deep 

 investigation would find one. 



While not properly included in the 

 scope of this paper, for the purposes of 

 comparison the tenure of instructors is also 

 given. For the most part instructors are 

 appointed for a period of one year. The 

 exceptions are as follows: Chicago, three 

 years; Cornell, after one or more year's 

 experience, two years; Harvard, annually, 

 or for a term of three years; Indiana, 

 permanent; Minnesota, indefinite; Ne- 

 braska, permanent; Virginia, usually in- 

 definite, but subject to termination at the 

 instance of either party; Yale, one or two 

 years. 



From the above statement of facts it ap- 

 pears that the practise of the institutions 

 belonging to the Association of American 



