LARAMIE -- A University of Wyoming administrator defends the institution's review of tenured faculty members as "one of the most rigorous review processes of any profession."

"We work on improving these processes all the time," said Myron Allen, vice president of academic affairs.

In fact, a committee of nine faculty members is reviewing two university regulations that have implications for tenured personnel: Unireg 801, which governs procedures for the dismissal of faculty members; and Unireg 808, which sets forth policies for post-tenure review.

The Faculty Senate, a body that establishes educational and academic policies for the university, expects to receive recommendations from the committee on changes to post-tenure review in about a month, said Mark Sunderman, chairman of the Faculty Senate and a professor of finance in the College of Business.

Recommendations to amend the regulation governing the dismissal of faculty members might not be submitted to the Faculty Senate until the spring, Sunderman said. Unireg 801 was revised in 1982.

Former UW President Philip Dubois adopted Unireg 808 on Dec. 22, 1998, coinciding with a "movement around the country ... to eliminate tenure," Sunderman said.

"Faculty Senate was encouraged to develop a policy for 'post-tenure review' rather than run the risk that one would be developed for us either by the trustees or the Legislature," he said.

Unireg 808 states that it is to be reviewed every five years, and the university was about a year late in beginning its review, Sunderman said.

Earning tenure at UW is a rigorous process in which professors generally face a six-year period of probation before a decision is made on whether to grant the privileged status, Allen said. About half of those who join the UW faculty earn tenure, and the university had 377 tenured faculty members at the end of the 2005 fall semester.

"Tenure is an up-or-out decision," Allen said. "If a faculty member doesn't earn tenure by the end of the sixth year, the employment contract ends."

The university typically determines in the first or second year whether an individual is qualified to teach at the university. A professor is unlikely to remain in the classroom if his teaching abilities are judged unacceptable during that time.

"We'll let them know in no uncertain terms it's not working out," Allen said.