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What is the role of university faculty in society?
The traditional role of university faculty has been to advance the knowledge bases within their respective disciplines. Essentially, a faculty member's responsibility to the academy is to think. In the United States and much of the western world, university faculty are given lifetime appointments (tenure), so they can advance the knowledge base in society without fear of reprisal for non-traditional or controversial ideas. Tenure also allows faculty to think generationally rather than short term. Finally, tenure also allows faculty to develop ideas based on pure thought rather than for commercial gain.
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