AAUP accuses two campuses in the U. of Louisiana System of firing tenured faculty in an effort to save money
The News Star
June 8, 2011
The American Association of University Professors issued a scathing statement this week accusing two campuses in the University of Louisiana System of firing tenured faculty and offering to rehire them in non-tenure-track positions in an effort to save money.
The statement, released Monday, specifically mentioned Southeastern Louisiana University and the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
In February, the university system approved changes in procedures regarding the termination of tenured professors, making it easier to dismiss tenured professors under certain financial circumstances and shortening the time required to notify them.
According to the AAUP statement, SLU discontinued its undergraduate major in French last year and dismissed its three tenured professors with a year's notice. Afterward, the administration offered one of the professors it had just fired a position as a temporary instructor.
The statement said no reason was given for the decision to discontinue the undergraduate major in French and that the program "was not underenrolled in comparison to majors such as Spanish."
The statement also mentions ULM, claiming that the university was planning a similar course of action by laying off its four tenured chemistry professors and then offering to rehire them as instructors without tenure.
