With a unanimous vote Tuesday, the University Senate approved a faculty dismissal policy that has been in the works since April.
“I don’t believe there are any perfect dismissal policies, and this is not one either,” said David Cicci, chair of the University Senate.
When addressing the Senate, Cicci said the policy was a compromised document that was worked on by the administration and the Senate’s executive committee.
The policy has seen several revisions since April, and at Tuesday’s meeting, several last minute changes were made.
Cicci said the policy that was presented at the beginning of the meeting was agreed upon by the administration, but the administration may choose to reject the proposed changes or revise the document.
“I think the amendments the Senate provided were very good,” Cicci said.
The three approved changes to the dismissal policy concern a terminal salary schedule and hearing panel procedures.
The policy will now go to President Jay Gogue and his administration, who may revise it before sending it to the Board of Trustees in November.
The policy outlines reasons for dismissal, which can include misconduct or poor academic and administrative performance.
Senators and faculty members heavily debated two sections that outline specific reasons that could lead to dismissal procedures.
The sections have an extensive list of various crimes and violations that could be reasons for dismissal, and some senators wanted the list removed.
Others argued that if the list was removed, the policy would be too vague about cause for dismissal, which was one of the criticisms of the previous policy.
“I think one of the problems with the previous policy is nothing was defined very clearly,” said Richard Penaskovic, immediate past chair of Senate. “I think (the list) is needed and critical in this document.”
After discussion, a motion to remove the sections was easily defeated.
Cicci said he thinks the new policy is an improvement.
“It’s much clearer and much more functional,” Cicci said. “The process is more streamlined and I think it will work better.”
The Senate also passed an administrator hiring resolution, which provides guidelines for hiring administrators at or above the position of department head/chair.
The resolution aims to curb the practice of interim administrators serving long terms or becoming permanent administrators without a national search.
