Tenure criteria during a downturn in the NIH budget

Professor in Training has raised an absolutely fascinating issue.

The topics that were touched on during the discussion included whether the bar should be set a tad lower for my peers and I than it was for recently-tenured or soon-to-be tenured colleagues. And the very real prospect of myself and most of my newbie peers being denied tenure due to frighteningly low paylines and essentially wiping out a whole generation of promising faculty members.

I’m sure my readers will want to go over there and play. One thing I’d like to see addressed is if anyone else’s institutions are even discussing this? I haven’t heard anything like this being discussed, personally.