美国大学终身聘任制的历史与变革

History and Reform of Tenure in American Colleges and Universities

大学教师聘任制最早源于中世纪大学作为特权形式的教师任用制度，经历了具有固定任期的聘用制以及教授终身聘任制，成为美国学院和大学教师管理中最具特色的教师聘任制度。终身聘任制度在保障大学教师职业安全和学术自由方面，发挥了十分重要的作用，但同时其自身存在的币端面临批评和改革。

Tenure first emerged as a privileged employment right in the medieval universities. Evolved from a fixed─term employment to permanent employment. Tenure has become the most characteristic feature of in faculty employment structure in American colleges and universities. It plays an important role in guaranteeing employment security and academic freedom to faculty members however， it also has disadvantages and has gone through various reforms.