Word: knowleses
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The number of tenured Faculty has jumped from 384 to 432 in the last 11 years, Knowles wrote, while non-tenured positions have decreased from 224 to 171 in the same time period.
In some departments, senior Faculty members make up 70 percent of the staff--a ratio which, in an interview yesterday, Knowles said concerns him.
"It means we are either not providing opportunities for young people starting academics, or perhaps losing vibrancy," Knowles said. "A healthy department needs a healthy mix of colleagues from different career stages, methodological approaches and academic interests."
Another threat to this "healthy mix," according to Knowles, is the increased presence of older Faculty members following the 1993 repeal of the mandatory retirement age of 70. In the natural sciences, he wrote, 58 percent of those professors past the age of 70 have chosen to stay on.
Knowles wrote that he hopes the creation of the Research Professor position--allowing professors to continue lab research under the aegis of Harvard for five years beyond retirement--will increase turnover in these departments.