During the Fifth Century B.C., Athenians engaged in the usual practice of ostracism. Once a year, they took a popular vote. The person with the most votes was banished from the city. Ideally, this would remove the most hated person in the city.
2,500 years later, State Senator Mark Chelgren of Iowa has a proposal that’s strikingly similar. He thinks that some professors at state universities are incompetent. But because of tenure regulations, they get to keep their jobs for life. Chelgren has introduced a bill into the state legislature that would reduce these bad teachers by empowering students to fire a single professor every year.
The process begins with the end-of-semester student evaluations. The Chronicle of Higher Education explains:
The names of the five professors with the lowest ratings above the minimum threshold would be published online. Students would then vote on those professors’ future employment — and the professor with the fewest votes would be fired, regardless of tenure status or contract terms.
POLL: Should college students have the power to fire professors in this manner?
- Yes, it will help clear out the deadweight.
- No, the students can’t evaluate a professor’s work effectively.
- Just show me the poll results.
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