Tenure abuse at UNT? Or, Why did Heidi Elmendorf, who came in as advisor to President Keller, get tenured at UNT as an associate professor?
Heidi Elmendorf, who is Deputy Advisor to President Keller, and who was his buddy from their days together at Georgetown, was granted tenure as an Associate Professor by the UNT Board of Regents at their February 2026 meeting (p.64).
Question
Why does an advisor to the president need tenure? According to the UNT BoR, tenure is supposed to "1. assure the faculty of freedom of teaching, research, opinion, and full participation as citizens in the academic community." As advisor to the president, why does she need this protection and a guarantee of a job for life?
Compare the write up of the other person granted UNT tenure at the same time by the UNT BoR, which is Mark Traynor of College of Merchandising. Importantly, there is specific mention of 16 publications and a million dollars in grants. This is the kind of evidence we want to see in an expedited tenure decision.
Giving tenure to Heidi Elmendorf, so she can serve as advisor to President Keller, looks like bad cronyism. Is President Keller going to get tenure for his other advisors too? I'm not sure this is the best use of tenure or taxpayer dollars.
