LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - Professionals with years of experience in the private sector who want to be part of an academic community won’t be coming to the University of Wyoming as so-called “professors of practice.”
Departments can hire people outside the academic community as faculty members, but they have different titles, such as visiting professor or artist in residence, and they are only temporary.
The Faculty Senate rejected a plan that would have allowed professionals to be hired by a UW department as a professor of practice if the title was created, the Laramie Boomerang reported (https://bit.ly/1ZKCwg2 ).
Ken Chestek, associate professor of law, said a professional with years of experience in the private sector could bring important knowledge to a university.
“When I was at Indiana University, a supreme court justice, who had retired but wasn’t ready to sit in a rocking chair, wanted to be part of the academic community and came to the law school,” he said. “He had a lot of knowledge and was very highly respected. Indiana University hired him as a professor of practice.”
Marianne Kamp, associate professor of history, said creation of the new position could keep departments from hiring tenure-track professors.
“My colleagues object to (the proposal) because it seems to be a way to recruit more and more contingent faculty - people who don’t have permanent jobs, who aren’t included in tenure and promotion decisions, who, essentially, don’t have a voice and are not guaranteed academic freedom,” she said.
Dean of Engineering Michael Pishko said professors of practice would primarily teach students and not perform research, a job separate from tenured professors.
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Information from: Laramie Boomerang, https://www.laramieboomerang.com
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