In sports, players are required to fulfill rookie deals before getting the big bucks, but in education, professors often set their sights on becoming tenured.

David DiLalla, associate provost for academic administration, said 27 SIU professors were awarded tenure and one new professor was hired with tenure for the 2014- 2015 school year. DiLalla said roughly 20 professors receive the promotion each year.

There were 517 faculty members with tenure and 187 on tenure track in fall 2013, states the Institutional Research and Studies website.

The SIU Tenure Policy states tenure-track faculty go through a five-year probationary period and are reviewed each year to ensure they are performing well. At the beginning of year six, those professors begin the review process with their academic unit.

The university has a broad outline of the criteria necessary for tenure, but each college has its own standards.

From there, the review heads upward through the chain of command and is reviewed by the college, provost and finally is approved or denied by the SIU Board of Trustees. Instructors are notified of their status in spring of year six.

“When we’re hiring, we are looking for people that we know can be successful,” DiLalla said. “We hire people that we expect to become tenured. We want people to be tenured here.”

If denied tenure, the individual will finish the seventh year of their contract and will not be re-signed.

Being tenured not only provides job security until retirement, it also guarantees protection of academic freedom. The university will not interfere with research, even if it does not agree.

“Academic tenure gives you that stability,” DiLalla said. “You can do the work you want to do, you can pursue your academic interests and you can teach your courses the way you want to teach them.”

Mark Dolan, associate professor of journalism, is one of the recently tenured professors and views his tenure as an increase in academic independence.

“It gives you the freedom to speak your mind when sometimes your opinions might go against that of the administration or supporters of your institution,” Dolan said. “Tenure is important to maintain academic freedom.”

One example of academic leeway is the ability to take a sabbatical, and Dolan is looking forward to taking one.

“When I am teaching, I very much focus on my students and what they are accomplishing and that’s how I think it should be,” he said. “The idea of taking a sabbatical and being able to focus and spending an extended period of time focusing on one of my own projects, that’s exciting.”

Dolan, president of the National Press Photographers Association, has been documenting barbecue across America since 2005, after he left his job at Syracuse University. He traveled across the country doing research before coming to SIU in 2008.

On his website bbqpilgrim.com, Dolan has compiled photos and stories from restaurants all over America. He hopes to turn his site into a book when he finds time for a sabbatical, which isn’t anytime soon.

“There are some initiatives going on at the university that I’m involved in and as long as those things are going on, I wouldn’t want to take a sabbatical,” he said. “I want to take a sabbatical and I want to worry about nothing but my project.”

The tenure process is important to DiLalla because continuing to bring quality staff to SIU will make the school better.

“It is the most important thing we do,” he said. “Without faculty who are well qualified and who are committed to doing their work, the institution cannot proceed.”