Faculty Terminations Due to Financial Exigency and Program Discontinuance: Legal Issues and Administrative Perceptions.

Abstract

The dissertation integrated an analysis of the legal issues involved in a process of program discontinuance or financial exigency with a study of the administrative perceptions of the factors considered in such decisions. The legal analysis focused on the relationship of constitutional and contractual due process. Constitutional due process requires that an individual be afforded notice and hearing when the state deprives the individual of a property interest such as academic tenure. Contractual due process rights are defined in the express and implied terms of the contract of the parties. Courts have been reluctant to substitute their judgement for that of academic leaders in decisions concerning institutional viability. Courts have also deferred to academic expertise in decisions affecting educational programming providing the decisions are not a pretext for restricting academic freedom. Four key legal issues are: (1) St and ing--Has the faculty member suffered a legally cognizable injury? (2) Jurisdiction--Can the faculty member make a claim under state or federal law? (3) Bona fide exigency--Has the institution suffered a crisis defined in terms of the inadequacy of its operating funds not its capital assets? (4) Bona fide termination--Did the public college afford the individuals procedural and substantive due process or did the private college deal fairly and in good faith with the faculty? Questionnaires were sent to all eighty Michigan private and public colleges and universities. Responses were received from 86% of the institutions. Over 23% of the respondents had declared financial exigency; 56% had experienced a financial crisis. A higher incidence of financial crisis was reported by two-year than four-year institutions, and by public institutions as compared to private colleges. Initial institutional responses to financial crisis were typically through hiring freezes and "across the board" budget reductions. Notice periods for personnel terminations ranged from several days to over a year. The dissertation analyzed the responses by institutional type, control, presence of a faculty union, and prior experience with faculty terminations. A broad consensus on those factors related to program discontinuance was found but the data revealed statistically significant divergence of opinion between institutional categories concerning variables related to faculty terminations.