Promotion and Tenure Logic

Ah, 'tis the season for the fate and rank of so many good faculty members to be decided. Thus, I thought I would pass along this tidbit I received a while ago, from my good friend and collaborator Len Waks, on the sometimes exasperating logic of tenure and promotion committees. The reference is to philosophy, but dear reader, it could apply to any discipline!

This reminds me of what my friend Mike Kelly (with whom I went to grad school and later spent a year with as a visiting professor at U. of Alberta) used to say:

"In P and T logic, every fact can count for or against any conclusion."

You know: Professor X says "Well, Professor A has published two articles in MIND." Professor Y says, "Right, and just look at the junk MIND now publishes."