Florida Polytechnic U. to offer multi-year contracts, not tenure, to faculty | Inside Higher Ed.

Reading this, it’s interesting to see some of the views about the connection between tenure and academic freedom. Which conception do most share of what constitutes academic freedom? I’d say it’s the negative sense of freedom from interference.

My question would be not what are we free from, but what are we free for, if we have tenure? The problem with so many tenured professors is not that they face interference, but that they do so little with tenure. Too many see tenure as a laissez faire policy, but then they act to lazy to do anything interesting once they get it.

I note, also, the idea that top quality faculty will not go to FPU. What this reveals is a deep-seated prejudice against folks not on the tenure track.