Would you protest Iowa State Univ.s not allowing tenure to EXCELLENT teacher – Gonzalez??
No, I wouldn’t protest it at all, because I know how tenure at the university level works. Teaching at the university level is done on a “publish or perish” basis. The professors at many schools aren’t there to teach as their primary goal. Their primary job is to publish research through credible sources adding to their field and increasing the reputation of their university. No credible scientific press/journal would print a pro-Intelligent Design book because, while it is an interesting idea, it is not scientifically sound. People can believe what they want, but that doesn’t make is a scientifically viable theory. Gonzalez published a theory through the conservative leaning press, NOT a scholarly journal or press. His published theory advanced ideas that are ridiculed by the vast majority of his field. As such, he did not enhance the reputation of his university (if anything, he tarnished it). They didn’t refuse him tenure because of his personal views (it’s Iowa for crying out loud.
Irish 294 is correct. Teaching only plays a small role in whether or not someone gets tenure at most universities. I don’t know anything about Gonzalez and certainly do not have an opinion on whether or not he should have gotten tenure, but I think the fact that he wrote a book on Intelligent Design while apparently a faculty member in Astronomy suggest that his religious views took precendence over his academic work. Faculty who are not yet tenured do need to pay attention to what they spend their time on, because they can be seen as lacking commitment. If they seem to be working on projects outside their academic discipline, it suggests that they are not sufficiently committed to their jobs.
