A University of Colorado committee studying tenure issued a sweeping set of questions Thursday that will guide the inquiry into every aspect of the job-protection system.

The study will include a massive review of records, showing how tenure is awarded at CU's four campuses.

Mark Heckler, provost of the Denver campus and chairman of the study group, said he will inform administrators who keep the records "just how big this boulder is that's coming at them."

Heckler heads a panel of a dozen members, including professors, regents, a student and a city of Denver administrator.

Their job is to ask questions and issue recommendations to the CU Board of Regents. The actual analysis of data will be headed by retired Air Force Gen. Howell Estes III, working with a consulting firm to be selected in the next two months.

The regents called for the probe after news reports that ethnic studies professor Ward Churchill was allowed to skip most of the review process that usually precedes the awarding of tenure.

The questions approved Thursday ask what rules are on the books at the four campuses and whether those rules are resulting in tenure for people who will be assets to CU.

A key question among more than 30 queries is, "Are these policies and procedures effective in the recruitment, selection, retention and tenure of highly qualified faculty who offer long-term strategic value to the (academic department), the school/college and the university, including the value of diversity?"

Another question reads, "Is the tenure review process designed to result in the tenure of candidates who are likely to make significant and continuing contributions?"

The panel wants to know if CU is recruiting the right people and how well departments are doing at evaluating the work of professors after they receive tenure.

The last question asks whether current policies are "effective in terminating a tenured faculty member who fails to meet expectations."

Added at the last minute was a question about how other universities deal with questions of "professional conduct" in the tenure process.

At CU, tenure evaluation addresses only teaching, scholarship and community service. Issues ranging from academic fraud to sexual harassment are dealt with under separate policies.

That system allows issues such as sexual harassment to fester for too long, said Regent Gail Schwartz.

Boulder English professor RL Widmann warned that judging professional conduct as part of tenure will spark concerns about academic freedom. Some faculty members will be concerned they will be judged by the views they express, Widmann said.

"This is a very volatile issue for faculty," she said after the meeting.

Jenenne Nelson, who teaches nursing at the Colorado Springs campus, said professional conduct is intrinsic to evaluating faculty members in her field.

Academic freedom "is not the first thing I think of as a nurse. I think of things like killing patients," Nelson said after the meeting.

Heckler, the committee chairman, said the panel may have to narrow the study once bids start coming in from consulting firms. The group may have to choose between meeting a February target date for completion or narrowing the study.