Another one of MacFarquhar's colleagues who has visited Stanford was amazed at the number of people in the political science department who taught part time and spent the rest of the time doing research.
But the government department, he says, has their choice of the "most brilliant recruits out there in the world."
A Complicated Process
Many universities hire professors primarily at the junior level and tenure from within. Professors usually receive tenure if they have met a certain set of requirements. At Harvard, an intensive search process helps departments extend offers only to the leading scholars their field--which often means passing over hard workers from within departments in favor of stars from the outside.
For internal promotions, a department considers tenure candidates and after a preliminary review, the department head writes a recommendation to the Dean of the Faculty.
In making tenure offers, Harvard looks at these departmental nominations along with nominations of professors from other universities, those who apply, and junior faculty.
The ad hoc committee then meets and reviews each case, and the president of the University ultimately decides whether or not to grant tenure.
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