In 1978 , Churchill began working at the University of Colorado Boulder as an affirmative action officer in the university administration . He also lectured on American Indian issues in the ethnic studies program . In 1990 , the University of Colorado hired him as an associate professor , although he did not possess the academic doctorate usually required for the position . The following year he was granted tenure in the Communications department , without the usual six @-@ year probationary period , after having been declined by the Sociology and Political Science departments .