Tag Archives: terminations

Academic Freedom and Tenure: Bethune Cookman

AAUP Academic Freedom and Tenure: Bethune Cookman

An Association investigating committee report on Bethune-Cookman University in Florida deals with the 2009 dismissal of four professors and the termination of the services of three additional faculty members. The stated reasons for these actions ranged from charges of sexual harassment of students to claims of insufficient academic credentials to the purported need to reduce the size of the faculty for financial reasons. The report concludes that, in each case, the professors were denied virtually all AAUP-supported protections of academic due process. It further concludes that the administration’s reliance in the dismissals on outside investigators, consultants, and attorneys to deal with matters for which the faculty should have responsibility speaks poorly for the climate of shared governance at the institution.

Read the report (.pdf).

AAUP Accuses Bethune-Cookman U. of Denying Due Process to 7 Dismissed Professors

The Chronicle: AAUP Accuses Bethune-Cookman U. of Denying Due Process to 7 Dismissed Professors

An investigative panel of the American Association of University Professors has accused Bethune-Cookman University of denying due process to seven dismissed professors, including four men who, the panel says, were fired for sexual harassment based mainly on hearsay and on complaints from unnamed students relayed to administrators by a consultant.

In a report issued on Friday, the AAUP panel broadly characterized Bethune-Cookman, a historically black college in Daytona Beach, Fla., of being “repressive of academic freedom.”

“A pervasive atmosphere currently exists at Bethune-Cookman University in which the administration supports favorites and ignores or punishes those who fall out of favor or who question, contend, or appeal,” the report says. “No adequate mechanism or procedure exists for the impartial or balanced hearing of grievances.”

Officials at Bethune-Cookman said on Monday that they planned to respond to the AAUP report, but were not yet prepared to do so.

AAUP Will Investigate Firing at LSU

Inside Higher Ed: AAUP Will Investigate Firing at LSU

The American Association of University Professors on Monday announced that it is beginning a formal investigation into the case of Ivor van Heerden, who was a leading whistle blower in the analysis of what went wrong after Katrina hit New Orleans, and who is suing Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge, charging that he was fired from his position at the university’s hurricane research center because of anger over his criticisms of the Army Corps of Engineers. The university, while declining to discuss details about the case, has denied that he lost his job for that reason.

UNLV removes dean critical of program cuts

Las Vegas Review-Journal: University removes engineering dean

College chief was critical of UNLV’s plans to eliminate programs

The dean of UNLV’s College of Engineering, whose programs are expected to be among the hardest hit in the next round of budget cuts, has been removed from his job and reassigned to the provost’s office, the university confirmed Monday.

Eric Sandgren took over as dean of the college in 2003. His contract, which pays him $193,596 a year, expires in June.

U of Alabama Huntsville Campus Fires Amy Bishop

The Chronicle: Huntsville Campus Fires Amy Bishop

The University of Alabama at Huntsville confirmed on Wednesday that it had fired Amy Bishop, the biology professor who is accused of killing three co-workers and injuring three others in a departmental meeting last month, The Decatur Daily reported. Previously, the university had said Ms. Bishop was suspended without pay. Ms. Bishop, who is in jail awaiting a preliminary hearing on charges of capital murder and attempted murder, received the termination letter on February 26. Her firing was made retroactive to February 12, the day of the shooting.

Professor Sues Stillman College Over Dismissal for ‘Malicious Gossip’

Tuscaloosa News: Ex-Stillman professor sues over dismissal

TUSCALOOSA | A former Stillman College professor has sued the college over his termination two years ago, seeking back pay, punitive damages and his old job.

Ekow Hayford, who taught business at Stillman, filed the civil suit Feb. 15 in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court.

‘The climate may make it difficult for him to return. He’s mainly seeking back pay, but if the court sees fit to reinstate him, he’ll take the job back,’ said Stephen Wallace, Hayford’s attorney.

Williams fires accused professor

Berkshire Eagle: Williams fires accused professor

WILLIAMSTOWN — A Williams College visiting professor, who pleaded guilty to charges of fraud in federal court last week, has been terminated from the college.

In a letter to the Williams College community, Interim President William Wagner said Bernard Moore’s employment with the college ended as of Monday.

He further stated, “We have found no evidence of serious misuse on his part of college resources.”

Moore, 51, whose real name is Ernest B. Moore, was the college’s W. Ford Schumann ‘50 visiting assistant professor in Democratic Studies, and was in his second year at Williams College.

Recovering Status for University Teachers in Korea following mass dismissals

Recovering Status for University Teachers in Korea
http://stip.or.kr/

On August 12, 2009, Korea University (KU) dismissed 88 lecturers who taught on the KU campus. The teachers who were dismissed were those who had taught four or more semesters and did not possess a doctorate.

Kim Youngkon (’68, Economics) a lecturer who now teaches “The History of Labor” at KU. Kim, is carrying out a one-man demonstration on the injustice of the dismissals, which nowadays is being referred to as “the massacre.”

Kim had graduated from KU, became an executive official of the Daewoo Heavy Industry Labor Union, and later worked as a chairperson for the National Labor Movement Organization Council, as well as writing the publication The History and Future of Korean Labor.

Kim can now be seen near the National Assembly building living in a blue tent, outside of which there stands numerous posters denouncing the current status of university lecturers and the injustice of the mass dismissals. Kim stated that he had started his one-man demonstration in front of the National Assembly building in 2006, and has been camping out in protest in the same place since September 7, 2007.

Then why is Kim putting up with such hardships? This is because of his firm belief as a professional in the field of labor as well as his strong convictions as a labor activist. He says that even if the law for “non-regular” workers were to change, he would not be entitled to benefit from such a provision because of his age.

The reason for the mass dismissal of lecturers at KU was the following policy: If a non-regular lecturer were to teach more than four semesters, he or she would have to be promoted to the status of full time lecturer. This would cost the university up to five times more for each such lecturer. The dismissals were the core incident that brought this issue to light.

Such dismissals are not unique to KU. According to the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MEST) as of September 9, 1,219 lecturers have been dismissed from 112 universities because they did not possess a doctorate degree. Consequently, from the total 200 universities located in South Korea, over 2,000 lecturers are estimated to have been dismissed for the same reasons.

Then what can be done to resolve this issue? “We need to democratize and normalize universities,” stated Kim. “Lecturers, who are widely recognized as having power within the classroom, actually do not have much power; we can say that they are ‘slaves’ to their owner, the head of the university. There are serious problems in the current law that regulates the status of all teachers, and the problem must be solved as soon as possible.”

In 1977, the South Korean statute on the classification of school personnel was changed. According to clause 2 of Article 14 of this statute, the teaching staff of a school should only include the dean, professors, assistant professors, assistant teachers, and full-time lecturers. In legal terms, this means that “non-regular” lecturers do not have the same power or authority as other staff members at the university at which they are teaching.

The two main goals Kim is currently striving to achieve are an amendment to include lecturers within the statute of official personnel and to provide better conditions for lecturers within the university. “When lecturers finally reclaim their status as teachers, this will bring about a chain reaction that will benefit all; and yes, this also includes students,” Kim stated.

From August 24 through 28 of this year, KU students had an additional period to apply for the lectures that they would take in the second semester of 2009. However, the lecturers were fired even after students had finished registering for the fired lecturers’ classes. “This action violates the students’ rights to education,” said Kim. “The students were ready to take a course, which was then abruptly taken away from them. Substantially, the mass dismissals not only violate the lecturers’ rights, but also the rights of the students. These are both rights that must be protected.”

Not only that, Kim argues that these mass dismissals will lower the standards of university education. “Because lecturers do not have authority and status within the classroom, this can greatly reduce the lecturers’ responsibility to and conviction regarding the students, as well as the quality of their lectures. This may further reduce lecturer and student contact, which will make the problem even worse. University tuition is continuously increasing, but ironically, education standards have plummeted. As anyone can see, there is something wrong with this.”

Despite the uncertain road that lies ahead, Kim remains convinced of the importance of his cause. “In order to solve today’s problem, the first, and most important, thing that must be done is that lecturers need to recover their status and authority as personnel at the university. And as this issue is a problem that stretches nation-wide, it must accordingly be dealt with on a national scale.”

“I am currently demonstrating in front of the Grand National Party building in front of MEST headquarters, at both the Anam and Sejong KU campuses, in front of the Seoul National University headquarters, and in front of Ewha University,” said Kim. “Many others are also expected to join me as well. However, this mission cannot be completed by us only. Students must become enlightened about this problem and lend a hand to solve it. Only then can our dream be achieved.”

***

Please write a letter of request to rivese the Higher Education Act to the Perosns as below email Adresses, containing words of below.

“Dear ****
Please, help to decide the issue of the Higer Education Act in Korea National Assembly to get back the status of teacher to the 70,000 parttime lecturers of universities. They were deprived the status of teacher in 1977 under President Park Junghee. The revision of Act will develop the study & teaching, help the students to escape from the education of memorization to initiativeness, adapt to the scoiety of knowledge and democratize the university. Some lecturers has been sitting in strike in front of the Korea National Assembly since Sept. 7, 2007 until now.”

***
President of Korea University, Lee Ki-su, e-kisu@korea.ac.kr
President of Republic of Korea, Lee Myung-bak, mailer@president.go.kr
Head of the Committee for Education and Science & Technology of Korean National Assembly, Lee Jong-kul, anyang21@hanmail.net
Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Ahn Byung-man, webmaster@mest.go.kr
Head of Korean Council for University Education & President of Ewha University, Lee Bae-yong.
master@kcue.or.kr

***

Center to Get Back Status of Teacher for Irregular Professor and Normalization of University Education.
http://stip.or.kr/
email: srangni@hanmail.net
Mobile phone: 82-10-9100-1824
Address: Yeongdeungpoku Dolimdong 186-5, 2nd floor, Nodognnet. Seoul, Koea.

Idaho State U professor fired despite faculty vote

The Olympian: ISU professor fired despite faculty vote

POCATELLO, Idaho – An Idaho State University engineering professor who was suspended in August says he has been fired, despite backing from a faculty appeals board.

The Idaho State Journal reports Habib Sadid confirmed Friday that university president Arthur Vailas had terminated his employment.

In a statement, Vailas said his decision was in the best interests of the institution.

University of Central Missouri president’s ouster raises questions

Missourian: University of Central Missouri president’s ouster raises questions

WARRENSBURG — By most measures, Aaron Podolefsky’s nearly five-year tenure as president of the University of Central Missouri has been a success.

Enrollment is up, and so is the school’s graduation rate. Podolefsky steered the school through a name change and successfully lobbied for more state and federal money.

Panel Says Not to Fire Idaho State Faculty Member

Inside Higher Ed: Panel Says Not to Fire Idaho State Faculty Member

Idaho State University lacks sufficient evidence to justify the termination of a tenured professor charged with a pattern of abusive and disruptive behavior, a faculty panel ruled Friday. Habib Sadid, an engineering professor who has been at Idaho State for more than 20 years, was suspended and barred from campus in August. Sadid has challenged administrators publicly, and in 2005 he organized a no-confidence vote in the university’s former president, who later resigned amid protests about his compensation. The panel ruled 4:1 in favor of Sadid, and the lone vote against him came from a faculty member appointed to the panel by the university’s provost. In its ruling, the panel said due process had not been followed and they found “the absence of requried documentation disturbing.” The panel added, “After years of satisfactory evaluations, the short interval to termination without the opportunity for remediation was troubling to the majority, particularly in light of the fact that the recommendation to terminate was based on a claimed long-term pattern of behavior.” The panel’s findings are advisory, and the university’s president is still authorized to terminate Sadid, according to university rules.

Morehouse College employee fired for anti-gay e-mail

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Morehouse employee fired for e-mail

Morehouse College has fired a woman and reprimanded another for discriminatory comments made via their work e-mail accounts.

The fired woman worked as an administrative assistant in the president’s office, according to reports. After receiving an e-mail forward that included wedding photos of a gay couple, she forwarded the e-mail to others and made comments that were considered discriminatory.

Montgomery College Trustees Oust Its President

Inside Higher Ed: Montgomery College Trustees Oust Its President

The Board of Trustees at Montgomery College voted late Thursday to end the presidency of Brian K. Johnson, amid faculty discontent over his alleged misspending and reports that he faces prison time in Arizona for non-payment of child support. The faculty at the two-year institution in Washington’s Maryland suburbs voted no confidence in Johnson last week, citing evidence they’d accumulated that he had spent tens of thousands of dollars on questionable expenses. And Thursday, The Washington Times reported that police officers in Arizona have a warrant out for his arrest that would land him in jail if he returned to the state. In a statement, the chairman of the college’s board said it had decided not to renew Johnson’s contract and had placed him on administrative leave immediately. Johnson came to Montgomery College from the Community College of Allegheny County just two years ago.

NIGERIA: Supreme court reinstates sacked academics

World University News: NIGERIA: Supreme court reinstates sacked academics

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has ruled the dismissal of five lecturers of the Federal University of Ilorin was invalid. The court will decide next month on a similar case affecting a further 44 academics who were also sacked eight years ago for taking part in a national strike organised by the Academic Staff Union. The verdict was hailed by lawyers and civil society organisations as a triumph of the rule of law and due process.