Higher Ed in Crisis: The Future of Tenure | July 2026

The potential demise of academic tenure has captured headlines nationwide of late. Republican lawmakers in Texas and elsewhere are looking to limit tenure at public institutions, while states like Florida have ramped up post-tenure review. 

But long before the political challenges, tenure as a core tenet of higher ed had been weakened. Financial pressures on institutions have led to calls for changes to faculty employment protections; the number of tenure-track professors has declined as colleges hire more contingent academic labor to cut costs; and the American public has generally grown less supportive of tenure, perhaps in part because of misunderstandings about its overarching benefits to research and society. 

To help administrators to understand the challenges to tenure, its origins, and its future, The Chronicle is convening a 75-minute webinar on July 29 at 1 p.m. ET to cover: 

• The current political criticisms of tenure and how to respond to them; 
• The historic case for tenure protections and how they undergird academic freedom and scientific discovery;
• An exploration of the alternative models to traditional tenure that are emerging. 

Join Ian Wilhelm, a Chronicle deputy managing editor, and a panel of experts to gain insights and make your team and institution better prepared for a volatile environment. In addition to joining the session, registrants will receive Chronicle materials related to the topic and get access to a special followup Q&A.   

Please note that the program will be recorded and distributed to registrants upon its conclusion. If you won’t be able to join us live, you can still save your spot to access the recordings and resources at a later time.

Event access instructions will be sent separately, from Zoom and from workshops@cs.chronicle.com. Please add workshops@chronicle.com and workshops@cs.chronicle.com to your approved senders to ensure that communications arrive directly to your inbox.

Speakers TBA