Termination of Faculty

.234          When a decision has been made to terminate a School, Department or a Program, and when it involves termination of Faculty appointments, special care must be taken to insure fairness and to protect and honor accepted procedures and rights appropriate to the status of affected Faculty member(s).  An affected Faculty member must have an opportunity to be heard by the Ad Hoc Committee and all decisions must be subject to review by the President.

.235         With regard to tenured Faculty members, the following provisions should be observed in any termination procedure:

              a.  The institution will make every effort to place the tenured Faculty member in another suitable position; if such a position is not available, the affected Faculty member should be given opportunity to readapt within a Department or School or elsewhere within the University, provided that the academic credentials and professional competence of the Faculty member and the needs of other programs make such readaptation a realistic possibility;

              b.  The provisions that should be followed to safeguard the rights of the Faculty member are as follows:

(i)     When termination of appointment is based upon abolition of a School, Department or Program, a Faculty member shall have the right of appeal as provided in Section E. Appeals from Adverse Decisions;

(ii)   The affected Faculty member will be given notice as soon as possible, and never less than twelve months’ notice, or in lieu thereof will be given compensation plus severance pay equivalent, in the aggregate, to compensation for twelve months;

(iii)  The released Faculty member’s position will not be filled by a replacement within a period of two years, unless the released Faculty member has first been offered reappointment and a reasonable time within which to accept or decline it.

     c.   Early retirement or the reduction of the Faculty member from full‑time to part‑time
       service should be considered as possibilities.

.236       The rights of non‑tenured Faculty members should be safeguarded in a manner analogous to
            that specified above for tenured Faculty members. If there is no realistic choice other than to
            terminate the services of a non‑tenured Faculty member, adequate notice should be given as
            provided in B-3.023-028. Commensurate compensation may be offered in lieu of the prescribed
            period of notice.

.237        If, for reasons of financial exigency, it becomes necessary to reduce the number of Faculty 
             members rather than to eliminate a School, a Department, or a Program, the following
             procedure shall apply:

a. Termination of tenured Faculty members in the Program or Department shall be considered only after all probationary Faculty have been terminated;

b. Termination of tenured Faculty members shall be selective and need not be determined exclusively by seniority;

c. Selective termination of tenured appointments, in the context of this document, shall be accomplished by applying the same criteria used to confer tenure, except that serious consideration should be given to the seniority status of the Faculty member. The selection of Faculty member(s) to be terminated is the responsibility of the Committee on Appointments and Promotions of the Academic Senate, which will report its recommendations to the Provost for approval by the President. In arriving at its recommendations the Senate CAP shall consult with the Dean of the School and, if the School is departmentalized, with the Chair of the Department.  In addition the CAP, at its discretion, may also consult with other Faculty members of the affected academic unit.