3.1.010B Faculty Retrenchment Policy and Procedures-Appendix B

To serve as a guide for retrenchment, faculty members in each department will prepare, according to a prescribed format, a statement of academic and program integrity. A general definition of academic integrity follows:

Academic integrity is the maintenance of sufficient quality and breadth of teaching, scholarship and service within an academic program to enable that program to offer an array of functions that meets or exceeds the usually accepted norms of American Higher Education for that program.

Each department’s statement of academic and program integrity will contain (1) an assessment of the current level of academic integrity for programs being offered, (2) criteria for the most effective additions to faculty within the department, and (3) an evaluation of the damage to programs that would result from faculty reductions. Information in this statement will be presented by college representatives to the Academic Planning Committee to support the department’s programs. It will be used within the department as a guide for planning.

By the time the Academic Review Board makes its recommendations to the provost, each department on campus shall create a program planning committee. This committee shall be advisory to the department chair, cooperating with him/her and with the department’s faculty members in developing ways to meet the goals established for the program.

In attempting to meet faculty staffing goals, the university provides a number of alternatives to termination of faculty members. The dean and department chair will consider these alternatives to termination of faculty members and discuss them with departments that are to be affected before the name of any tenured or tenure track faculty member is forwarded to the provost with a recommendation for termination. The alternatives may include, but are not limited to the following:

A. Faculty turnover

Retirement including reduced service, phased retirement or retirement incentives as available.

B. Reassignment

1. Reassignment to an administrative or exempt position.
   
   
2. Reassignment to another academic program.
   
   
3. Training for reassignment. The university will attempt to aid faculty members who wish to train for reassignment.
   
   

C. Leaves (See Academic Policies and Procedures)

1. Funded study leaves
   
   
2. Unfunded study leaves
   
   
3. Funded summer leaves
   
   
4. Severance leaves
   
   
5. Grants, fellowships and contracts from outside sources
   
   

The alternatives to termination in a declared state of financial emergency shall include, but not necessarily be limited to those specified above.  Financial considerations, however, may prevent or restrict the university’s ability to offer any of the foregoing.

A. If, as a result of the entire planning process, a decision is made to terminate faculty members within a department, the department chair will apply, as objectively as possible, four criteria for the retention of individuals.  These four criteria, in order of importance, follow:

1. Program integrity- (need for the person in order to retain program integrity)
   
   
2. Tenure Status- (given program support potential, a tenured person will be given precedence over a non-tenured one)
   
   
3. Rank- (between two tenured or two non-tenured persons, the one of higher rank will be retained)
   
   
4. Length of service- (other criteria being equal, length of service will prevail)
   
   

B. In order to apply these four criteria in an orderly manner, the office of the dean will prepare, in consultation with the department chair, a list of all faculty members in the department, divided first according to tenure status.  At the top of the list shall be all part-time adjunct faculty, then full-time adjunct faculty, then non-tenure track faculty, then probationary or tenure track faculty, and at the bottom of the list shall be tenured faculty.

Within each category, the list shall be divided by academic rank, with those of lowest rank at the top of each category and those of highest academic rank at the bottom.  Within each of these categories, individuals shall be placed in the following order:  among the non-tenured, by length of service, starting with the most recently employed; among the tenured, by length of tenure, starting with the most recently tenured.

Each entry on the list will show name, rank, date of employment, date of tenure and a space for identifying the basis for retention.

To apply the first and most important criterion for retention, namely program integrity, the following questions shall be asked, starting with the faculty member at the top of the list.  As noted above, the department chair will answer these questions in the order listed using external advice as appropriate:

1. Are this person’s qualifications (academic specialty, teaching record, scholarship and service) necessary to maintain program integrity?
   
   
   1. If the answer is “No,” then the person is recommended for termination.
      
      
   2. If the answer is “Yes,” then the next question is asked.
      
      
2. If this person in non-tenured, can one or more tenured faculty members in the department adequately perform this person’s function in addition to normally assigned duties?
   
   
   1. If the answer is “Yes,” then that person is recommended for termination.
      
      
   2. If the answer is “No,” or if the question is not applicable, then the next question is asked.
      
      
3. According to the guidelines provided by the department(s) statement of academic and program integrity, can the parts of the program to which this person is assigned be eliminated?
   
   
   1. If the answer is “Yes,” then that person is recommended for termination.
      
      
   2. If the answer is “No,” then the next question is asked.
      
      
4. Can the entire program to which this person is assigned be eliminated?
   
   
   1. If the answer is “Yes,” and the program is eliminated, then that person is recommended for termination.
      
      
   2. If the answer is “No,” then that person should be retained, and the questioning proceeds to the next faculty member on the list.
      
      

This procedure shall be applied down the list until the required number of faculty positions has been eliminated.  Decisions regarding faculty termination shall be made in time to meet the university’s timely notice requirements.

C. Using external advice as appropriate, the department chair shall make a written recommendation to the dean of the college.

D. After consultation with the department chair and using external advice as appropriate, the dean shall make a written recommendation to the provost, and each potentially affected faculty member shall be informed of the recommendation.

E. After consultation with the dean and using external advice as appropriate, the provost shall make a written recommendation to the president.

F. After consultation with the provost and using external advice as appropriate, the president shall forward the recommendation to the Board of Governors.  At each stage of the process, each potentially affected faculty member shall be informed of the recommendation status.

V. The Criteria and procedures for faculty termination in a declared state of financial emergency shall be the same as those detailed above.