Tenure, a contract established between the university and the faculty member, grants him or her a certain level of job security. According to Gerald L. Francis, provost and vice president for academic affairs, select faculty members are awarded tenure because of their quality and quantity of work in teaching, scholarship and service to the university.
Therefore faculty members with tenure have the freedom to explore experimental teaching techniques and research ideas.
Crider recieved his tenure this year.
“It is a luxury, really, to just explore things that you wouldn’t otherwise get to. The university is basically saying ‘we trust you,’” Crider said.
The process of achieving tenure lasts six years. Each year during this probationary period the faculty member undergoes evaluations by their department chair, students and intermittently by their dean. In October of the sixth year, an application or “tenure file” is submitted and candidates are notified after the Board of Trustees meeting in the spring.
“Elon takes some of the stress out of the process,” said tenured Associate English Professor Janet Myers. “By offering feedback at regular points, going into this evaluation you already have a good sense of the strengths and weaknesses of your portfolio, and you can address them accordingly.”
Once the process is finished, it is more rewarding than some applicants realize. Crider compared it to having kids or getting married in the sense that he didn’t fully understand it until it happened.
For Crider, it entirely changed how he felt about working at Elon.
“The grass was greener;” Crider said, “the birds chirped sweeter songs; I didn’t feel like I worked for Elon anymore, I felt like I was a part of Elon.”