Thread by @AAUP

In response to the announcement of AAUP’s investigation into @BORUSG’s removal of due process protections, the acting chancellor responded that “it will not be necessary for an investigation into the removal of due process as it clearly has not been removed.” 🤔
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To clarify: the due process being referred to is the procedure the AAUP requires to dismiss a tenured faculty member. It consists essentially in an adjudicative hearing of record before an elected faculty body in which the burden of demonstrating… /2

…adequate cause for dismissal rests with admin. This academic due process is essential for tenure as the AAUP defines it: an indefinite appointment that can be terminated only for cause as demonstrated in such a hearing. /3

If an indefinite appointment does not include the right to this process, the AAUP does not regard it as tenured, regardless of how the appointing administration may designate it. /4

The @BORUSG policy doesn’t incorporate regulations that afford academic due process. Misconduct aside, when it comes to their performance as teachers & researchers, the 6,000 tenured faculty members in the University System of Georgia no longer enjoy the protections of tenure. /5

Tenure is essential to safeguard #academicfreedom. We cannot over emphasize the gravity, scope, & unprecedented nature of this action. To our knowledge, no other public university system has stripped the due process protections of tenure from it’s post-tenure review policy. /6

Despite the acting chancellor’s assertion to the contrary, an AAUP investigation is all too necessary. It is not, however, unavoidable. If the @BORUSG restores the applicability of Board Policy 8.3.9.2., they will have addressed our concerns. /7

The AAUP welcomes a resolution that would obviate the need for a published report and potential AAUP censure. /8

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