A three-time teacher of the year, who has researched Ohio’s school funding system for the last seven years, may be forced to leave Ohio State next year. Howard Fleeter, professor of public policy, is currently reviewing the ruling by the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences that will deny him tenure at OSU. If the ruling stands, Fleeter’s contract will expire June 30, 1999.”I’ve always felt that I was doing things in the best interest of the university,” Fleeter said. “Unfortunately, a lot of faculty are denied tenure.”Fleeter said the main reason he is being asked to leave is because he has not published enough work in scholarly journals. Having work published in a variety of journals is one of the requirements to earn tenure in Fleeter’s department.Since coming to OSU in 1989, Fleeter has conducted research concerning state school funding programs that has received national attention. Since 1991, he has provided expert opinions to Gov. George Voinovich to help revise the state education budget, and last year his research was heard before the Ohio Supreme Court, arguing for change in the school funding system. Last month, Fleeter was voted teacher of the year for the third time by students in the department.University records show that Fleeter was unanimously recommended for tenure by other faculty members by a count of 7-0. This recommendation was then unanimously denied by department officials, also by a count of 7-0. That ruling was upheld by Randall Ripley, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.In a letter sent to academic affairs, Ripley described Fleeter’s quantity of published work as “inadequate.” He said, “this insufficient quantity could, of course, be offset by outstanding quality. Such outstanding quality does not appear to be present.” The department cannot comment on Fleeter’s case and directed questions to the Office of Academic Affairs, said Ronald Huff, director of the School of Public Policy. But, the university does not discuss individual tenure cases, said Nancy Rudd, vice president for academic policy and personnel.The reoccurring themes in Fleeter’s committee reviews are that his teaching skills and service record are excellent, but his lack of journal entries reduces his overall value in the department. Among those praising Fleeter’s work were four out of five nationally respected scholars who were asked to judge his performance. One reviewer described Fleeter’s work as “the only one to date to comprehensively describe and analyze the application of tax-base sharing concepts to education finance.””I think my research is valid, and they don’t,” Fleeter said. “They value the work that’s published in scholarly journals, and a lot of my research is not.”I was hopeful that they would evaluate my research on a broader level. A lot of my work is in public policy reports that are not counted,” Fleeter said. Fleeter’s department recently moved from the College of Business to the College of Social and Behavioral Science. Since tenure policy and requirements vary among colleges, the move has not helped his situation, Fleeter said.”Right now it’s a matter of fighting it to help me find another job somewhere else,” Fleeter said. “I’d like to stay in Ohio because of my state funding research. But I’ll probably go where my research is most valued.”