As a possible signal of the end of tenure reform, the Board of Regents officially cut its ties to tenure consultant Richard Chait and Washington, D.C.-based law firm Hogan and Hartson.
Regents Chairman Tom Reagan informed other board members Tuesday of the consultants’ termination. Both administrators and some faculty greeted the announcement as a sign of the board’s commitment to adhere to the tenure changes outlined in a compromise proposal for the Law School. The proposal was passed earlier this month.
“They don’t need consultants,” said Marvin Marshak, senior vice president for Academic Affairs. “Tom Reagan told the media and everyone else that the board won’t be returning to the tenure question until at least July of 1998.”
After the regents passed the compromise tenure proposal for law professors, Reagan said he doubted that the regents would try to radically alter the tenure code for the rest of the University. But he would make no guarantees.
Faculty Consultative Committee members were pleased by the termination of the regents’ consulting contracts. “I read the news to the FCC and it was greeted by a round of applause,” said Virginia Gray, consultative committee chairwoman.
The regents hired Chait in April and have already paid him $25,000 for his work on the University’s tenure code. The University has not disclosed the amount it paid Hogan and Hartson since retaining the firm in July.
— Brian Bakst