REGENTS’ POLICY MANUAL, SECTION 2—ACADEMICS
(AND FACULTY HANDBOOK, SECTION 3.8.1-3.8.2)
A change was made in the
regents’ policy manual to place the provision allowing termination of a tenured
appointment on the grounds of financial emergency among the instances calling
for severe sanctions. It was included there as a matter of convenience so
one might avoid having to go through the entire manual to discover the typical
limitations on tenured appointments. Legal Counsel and Faculty Senate
officers agreed to segregate that situation and one having to do with changes
in the University’s educational function, which were clearly not the result of
faculty misconduct, from the others and include a brief introduction to
the two subsections.
A
faculty member against whom the imposition of a severe sanction is to be
brought or whose dismissal is to be requested must have given such cause for
the action as relates directly and substantially to his or her professional
capabilities or performance. It is not
possible to specify all proper grounds for these drastic measures. Proper reasons for
dismissal of a faculty member who has tenure or whose tenure-track or renewable
term/consecutive term appointment has not expired include the following:
a) Professional incompetence or dishonesty;
b) Substantial, manifest, or repeated
failure to fulfill professional duties or responsibilities;
c) Personal behavior preventing the faculty
member from satisfactory fulfillment of professional duties or
responsibilities;
d) Substantial, manifest, or repeated
failure to adhere to University policies; including, for example, the
University’s Compliance Program.
e) Serious violations of law which are
admitted or proved before a court of competent jurisdiction or the
administrative hearing body established to hear such matters, which prevent the
faculty member from satisfactory fulfillment of professional duties or
responsibilities, or violations of a court order, when such order relates to
the faculty member’s proper performance of professional responsibilities;
f) For any
Subparagraphs (g) and (h),
below, are not severe sanctions but nevertheless are valid reasons for
terminating employment of a faculty member who has tenure or whose
tenure-track, renewable term, or consecutive term appointment has not expired.
g) Changes in the University’s educational
function through action of the Board of Regents and/or the Oklahoma State
Regents for Higher Education which result in the
elimination of an academic unit. In such
instances, the University will make every reasonable effort to reassign
affected faculty members to positions for which they are properly qualified
before dismissal results from such elimination.
h) Financial emergency as set forth
hereinafter in the Financial Emergency Policy in Section 4.
[of Regents’ Policy Manual]