[Vision2020] Program Reduction Procedures "Severely Deficient"

[nickgier at roadrunner.com]

Greetings:

This is my radio commentary/column for this week.  I decided that this would not be appropriate for the Los Cabos Daily News, so I'm writing a column on Obama and intellectuals for them.  I'll post it tomorrow after I massage it a little more.

Nick Gier

IDAHO’S UNIVERSITY PROGRAM REDUCTION 
PROCEDURES “SEVERELY DEFICIENT”

When I asked the UI Provost if he was going to declare financial exigency at the December 16th Faculty Council meeting, Doug Baker said that he was not.  Presumably, he believes that he can close departments and programs and lay off their faculty without claiming any fiscal emergency.

In 1981 the UI declared financial exigency in the College of Agriculture and laid off 17 faculty members, 11 of whom were tenured.  Lois Pace, one of the tenured professors, filed suit and our faculty union raised $40,000 for her legal fees. During the course of legal “discovery,” it was found that the Dean of Agriculture had signed off on the purchase of $100,000 in new computer equipment.

In 1984 District Judge Ronald Shilling ruled that a financial exigency did not exist, and he awarded Pace $40,000 cash, $45,540 in legal fees, and $2,000 a month for life. (UI’s legal fees were $90,000.) Seven other faculty members then filed suit and the final settlements came to over $1 million.

In 1982 the UI again declared financial exigency, but in the wake of the Pace suit, the administration was able to meet the budget deficit by letting only one staff employee go. The faculty union deservedly took some credit for this more humane approach to meeting the challenges of the 1981-82 recession.

During another financial crisis in 2002, the State Board of Education (SBOE) hastily wrote program reduction procedures, and soon thereafter the UI issued termination notices to six professors (three tenured) in geological and mining engineering.  These programs had been cut when the College of Mines was closed and the geology department moved to a new College of Science.

One of the tenured professors threatened a lawsuit, and the faculty union reminded the UI administration that tenure was a property right that could not be revoked without due process of law. Under pressure, the administration transferred the three tenured faculty to the College of Engineering, but the three non-tenured professors were given one year’s notice.  

Unfortunately, the union’s request that the program reduction procedures be revised was ignored. These are the same procedures that Doug Baker wants to use to lay off faculty in the current financial crisis, and they also apply on all the other campuses.  

This time we notified our national office, and attorney Samuel Lieberman, Senior Associate in our Legal Department, analyzed the program reduction policy and concluded that the procedures are “severely deficient in terms of procedural due process safeguards.” He states that the procedures “do not comport with Idaho law” and the termination of any faculty member could be challenged in court.  The union of course is prepared to do just that.

Lieberman’s report also includes an analysis of the procedures for laying off faculty under financial exigency. There he finds that legal requirements for due process are met, and he comments: “It does not make a lot of sense for the university to take the position that more due process is appropriate during financial exigency than in a program closure situation.”

We obviously agree, and we once again request that the SBOE revise the program reduction procedures so it at least includes the same legal safeguards as the financial exigency policy.

Having due process rights, however, does not mean that they will be honored. Over the 36 years that I’ve handled grievances for the union, I’ve been frustrated by appeals procedures that look good on paper but in nearly every case, the administration has vetoed the decisions of faculty hearing boards. 

University administrators have veto power at every level, from deans up to the SBOE.  This undermines a clause in the UI Constitution that states that the “immediate governance” of the university is in the hands of the faculty.  A collective bargaining agreement is the only way to right this severe imbalance of power.

All those who appealed the 1981 financial exigency were given due process, but their appeals were summarily denied. Again only a union contract will solve  this problem by providing for an impartial hearing officer. Hiring such a person is obviously far less expensive than a lawsuit.

The principle that is common to both the financial exigency and program reduction policies is that it is programs, not people, that are the only legitimate targets for elimination. We interviewed all 17 faculty on the 1981 lay-off list, and in every case we heard the complaint that “dean has been wanting to fire me for a long time.” 

We urge the leaders of Idaho’s colleges and universities to do everything in their power to meet the current fiscal crisis with the fewest lay offs as possible and with the utmost regard for the rights of all of their employees.

Nick Gier taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years.  He is president of the Higher Education Council of the Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFT/AFL-CIO, which has chapters on six Idaho campuses.