As Jimmy Jones noted in his June 11, 2015 letter to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Sweet Briar College does adhere to certain industry principles:
“I want to note for the record that, as reflected by the Faculty Personnel Manual, the Board has approved the 1940 Statement on Principles of Academic Freedom and Tenure of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) …”
Jones also wrote the following in his letter:
“I also note that your letter does not challenge the substance of the Board’s determination that the College is in a state of financial exigency…”1
It seems the AAUP is saving that argument until there is information to argue with, or a need for them to even engage in the argument. Though I have no doubt they will raise the point should things not go well next week since paragraph 5 under Academic Tenure states:
5. Termination of a continuous appointment because of financial exigency should be demonstrably bona fide.2
But thank goodness Jones and the board of directors are acutely aware they adopted those 1940 principles on tenure! Principles that have been around for 75 years are good things to have. They’ve been around so long that everyone knows what they are and how they work, so nobody would never blatantly do anything to violate such long standing principles, right?3 I mean, a person must be really familiar with them if he is going to cite them in a letter whining about being picked on for not being fair to faculty, right?4 It’s not like they would try to deny faculty severance pay they were due under these 75 year old industry principles they had adopted, right?5
After the AAUP received the enlightening letter the faculty sent in response to Jones’ letter, the association wasted no time firing off a response to Jones.
The SBC-adopted 1940 Statement of principles calls for all faculty members dismissed prior to the expiration of their appointment, excepting only cases of moral turpitude, to “receive their salaries for at least a year from the date of notification.” That same minimal year of salary is required in subsequent AAUP documents on layoffs resulting from financial exigency or discontinuance of program.6
You can read the entire letter here, and see how Jimmy got schooled.
Holla! Holla! to the AAUP!
Well golly gee Jimmy, if ya don’t release any of the information justifying your decision in a transparent manner, it’s kinda hard for anyone to challenge you, now isn’t it? Hell, nobody has seen current financials, so the board could have been having bi-weekly meetings in Hawaii for all anyone knows. But I digress…↩
Demonstrably means clearly and undeniably. Hey Jimmy! You got some demonstratin’ to do!↩
Wait for it…↩
Wait for it….↩
WAIT FOR IT…↩
And…..BOOM! GOES THE DYNAMITE!↩
virginia greene
Dynamite! Doesn’t anyone on the Board know how to read?
Coel
Is it union coverage of the facltuy that makes a difference here? I think your implicit argument is that with coverage of the full facltuy, union clout would have been sufficient to deter this move. I perceive the problem as more endemic to higher education as a whole, regardless of unionization. The idea at Wayne State seems to be that the administration wants more flexibility in removing dead wood. However, if we consider the notion of strategic dynamism proffered as justification for removing the president of UVA, it’s clear that the underlying pressure is toward more flexibility and adaptation for the university as a whole.I’m not going to pretend to know how to address that megatrend, but it seems clearly there.