From outside in

At the first sight of “(without tenure)” after my name in the Student Handbook’s faculty name list, I felt disbelief and humiliation. Haven’t I been hired on tenure track? Why do they have to put such a distinctive identification in a handbook for students? No other full-time faculty member had such a qualifier following their name. I went upstairs to the administrative office to see Mr Utsuno ¹ , the administrator in charge of the logistics related to my recruitment. I pointed at the parenthesized note and asked, “Is it necessary to indicate that I am without tenure? It is a bit awkward. ‘Without tenure’ sounds like I am a fixed-term hire, but I am an associate professor on a tenure track. ‘On tenure track’ is different from ‘without tenure’.” Utsuno-san, patient and gentle as always, answered, “So sorry! This is the English translation the Department of Human Resources (jinjibu) uses for the Japanese term ninkitsuki (fixed-term hire). Probably it is not so appropriate.” Pausing for a while, he nodded, “You are right. Your employment condition is an administrative matter. We don’t need to include it in the brochure for students.”