U of Louisiana tenured fac fired due to budget cuts

[A. Katz]

Monica,

Thanks for sharing that article. It inspired me to write this editorial:

http://www.pubwages.com/20/tenured-faculty-members-receive-termination-notices-at-ul

    --Aya


On Thu, 7 Jul 2011, monica gonzalez-marquez wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
>
> This affects us all. Text of the news article below.
>
> http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20110701/NEWS01/107010324/UL-terminating-two-professors
>
> -m
>
>
> UL terminating two professors
>
> Two tenured faculty members at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette 
> received termination notices this week, and university officials would not 
> rule out the possibility of more such notices being given in the short-term 
> future.
>
> "We deeply regret having to terminate tenured faculty, but in these budget 
> cuts, we've been driven to close programs with low enrollment," Carolyn 
> Bruder, interim provost and vice president of academic affairs, said during a 
> phone interview Thursday evening. "It is possible that we will have one to 
> two more professors get such notices in the near term."
>
> Bruder said the university is phasing out the doctoral degree program in 
> cognitive science as part of results of the Board of Regents' effort to 
> eliminate "low completer" programs across the state.
>
> "Two faculty members with tenure in the program have received notice that 
> their appointments will not be continued after May 2013," Bruder said in a 
> prepared statement issued by UL's communications department after The Daily 
> Advertiser questioned the termination notices.
>
> Istvan Berkeley, a professor of philosophy and cognitive science, is the head 
> of UL's chapter of the American Association of University Professors. He is 
> not one of the professors who received a termination notice, but he said he 
> is "very, very unhappy" with the decision.
>
> "This is a classic case of sinking the ship to save a pittance of tar," 
> Berkeley said Thursday evening.
>
> Bruder said the university wanted to let the professors know about the 
> terminations two years in advance and will give those two professors letters 
> of support to help find another job as well as offer them reduced-tuition 
> course enrollment as well.
>
> Bruder said about 14 students are currently enrolled in the cognitive science 
> program, and all will be given the chance to graduate. The university stopped 
> admitting students into that program after the fall 2010 semester.
>
> The Board of Regents looked at the "low completer" programs earlier this 
> year. Bruder said the Board of Regents increased the frequency at which these 
> programs are reviewed during the recent budget crunch as officials realized 
> some programs would have to be shutdown.
>
> For undergraduate programs, that means degree programs with a three-year 
> average of eight or fewer graduates per year, or five students for master's 
> degree programs and two students for doctorate programs.
>
> "In this 'low completer' review, the Ph.D. in cognitive science, which has 
> been on their review before, was terminated," Bruder said.
>
> In early March, Ellen Cook, UL's assistant vice president for academic 
> affairs, told The Daily Advertiser that the board sent the university a list 
> of all such programs last year and required it to put them into one of three 
> areas --- termination, consolidation or justification.
>
> In UL's case, only three programs are down for termination. Cook said at that 
> time doing away with the campus' agricultural education, consumer science 
> education and technical and industrial arts education programs makes sense.
>
> Eliminating the programs will allow resources and faculty to be assigned to 
> other areas, though in many cases the faculty may simply disappear.
>
> Bruder said the university will offer a job to the terminated tenured faculty 
> if there is any opening in a department in which those professors are 
> qualified to teach. However, she said she "can't imagine" those professors 
> wanting to take an instructorship.
>
> At its January meeting in preparation for program cuts, the Board of Regents 
> adopted new rules making it easier for universities to fire both tenured and 
> nontenured faculty members.
>
> Michael Berube, chairman of the subcommittee on program closures for the 
> AAUP, said in a June 6 letter that he was "deeply disturbed" by an 
> "unprecedented and unwarranted assault" on faculty in the UL System.
>
> "If senior professors with tenure can be fired and then immediately offered 
> employment as short-term instructors, then tenure is essentially meaningless 
> in the University of Louisiana System," Berube wrote. "Faculty nationwide 
> should be advised that the UL System has effectively nullified its tenure 
> procedures."
>
>
>
>
> -- 
>
> So that the form takes as many risks as the content.
> 			From,  "Ava" by Carole Maso
>
> Monica Gonzalez-Marquez
> Psychology Department
> Cornell University
> Ithaca, NY 14853
>
> Currently visiting at:
>
> Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC)
> Bielefeld University
> Universitaetsstr. 25, Gebaeudeteil Q
> 33615 Bielefeld
> Germany
>
>
>