This is the first installment in a three-part series confronting the issues raised in a recent Faculty Newsletter article written by Associate Professor of Religion Mel Peters.
Mel Peters has always considered himself something of a maverick.
Hailing from the Caribbean, the associate professor of religion says it is his nature to be open and frank about his views and philosophies.
Given these tendencies, Peters' piece in the January edition of the Faculty Newsletter, entitled "When Diversity Masks Tyranny," should not have come as a surprise to those who know him. Peters, however, confronted several controversial issues dealing with what is perhaps the University's most sacred institution -- tenure -- and in doing so created a ripple effect reaching throughout the faculty and administration.
The article, subtitled "Reflections of an `Add-On' Professor," tracks Peters' years at Duke, which started with his job as a tenure-track professor brought to the University as part of the 1983 class of black "add-on" professors meant to increase diversity. It eventually took intervention by the provost for Peters to attain tenure at Duke, a status he had already achieved at his previous job.
Peters has not, however, been promoted to the rank of full professor. "At national and international conferences I deflect or avoid questions from colleagues about my Duke status," he wrote in the newsletter.
"What really troubles meÉ is that there are people who have been at the rank of associate professor for 20 years, 25 years, who retire at the rank of associate professor, and I think whatever their feelings are, I see no real virtue in keeping someone who is already tenured -- who in many instances is making a lot [of contributions] -- at the rank of associate professor," he said in an interview. "I mean, what is there to lose?"
Provost John Strohbehn, who has final authority over all tenure and promotion decisions, said that promotion from associate to full professor usually takes about six or seven years, adding that the process may take slightly longer for professors in the social sciences.
"Humanists tend to have more time before promotion because it is more difficult [to publish] books," Strohbehn said.
Peters stressed that in raising these issues, he was not out for personal gain; rather, he said he wanted to highlight some ideas that faculty and administrators need to consider. Some faculty members seem to have taken his lead.
"I myself don't see the institution of academic rank as playing a role that's worth the trouble," said David Sanford, professor of philosophy and chair of the Arts and Sciences Council. "I'm against rank, but still, I think [my opinion] is an eccentric view."
Peters said that service to the University community should play a greater role in determining promotions from the rank of associate to full professor, a notion that receives myriad reactions from faculty and administrators.
Strohbehn, for example, said that for a faculty member to achieve the rank of full professor, he or she must build upon the productivity exhibited before being granted tenure and impact his or her field on a national level. Strohbehn, did not, however, entirely divorce service from the equation.
Donald Berry, chair of the Appointments, Promotions and Tenure Committee and professor of statistics, seemed to agree with the provost's assessment, saying that service does not play a large role in promotion decisions.
"I would not vote [to promote] someone who did lots of service but didn't do any research," Berry said.
Peters explained why he believes that the University limits the number of full professorships. "Those professors who publish lots and lots of books and lots and lots of articles don't want their rank cheapened by these persons who have published maybe two or three books," he said. "That's how the logic of the exclusion works."
Some faculty said they do not believe that the rank of full professor is cheapened by factoring service into promotion decisions.
"My personal view is that promotion should reward contributions to the University," said Kathleen Smith, associate professor of biological anthropology and anatomy and vice provost for academic programs. "It's more appropriate to balance internal and external activities at that level."
Berry listed several basic requirements for promotion: developing courses, working with graduate students, teaching well and continuing scholarship that is recognized nationally or internationally.
"It's not enough to sit back and teach courses," he said.
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