After struggling through the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, five of the city’s major colleges and universities have been dealt another blow.
This time it didn’t come from a natural or manmade disaster, but the American Association of University Professors.
In June, the AAUP censured Loyola University, Tulane University, University of New Orleans, Our Lady of Holy Cross College and Southern University at New Orleans. Colleges and universities are typically censured for violating recognized principles of academic freedom and tenure policies endorsed by the AAUP, according to Academe, an AAUP publication for its members.
According to Maria Calzada, chairperson of the Rank and Tenure Committee, the AAUP censured Loyola for “violating academic freedom, tenure and shared governance standards.” Most of these violations stemmed from the “Pathways” plan implemented in April 2006. Pathways called for the discontinuation of several programs and termination of 17 faculty members, including 11 tenured professors. The AAUP also stated the plan was approved without the evaluation of the University Senate, violating shared governance standards established by the AAUP.
According to Calzada, all censures are based on specific criteria. “The AAUP censures a university administration if it is established that unsatisfactory conditions for academic freedom and tenure have been found to prevail at the institution. This means that the AAUP found serious problems that need to be made known to the profession so that informed decisions are made by potential faculty members.”
The number of schools censured by the AAUP this year was unusual, as was the grouping of so many in one city. On average, the AAUP receives more than 1,000 complaints a year, Calzada said. Typically, only a few schools are censured every year.
The Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president, expressed his disappointment in the AAUP’s decision to censure the school for its actions while dealing with the problems of Hurricane Katrina. “They acted as if Katrina was a one-time event that came and went, and they totally missed the impact that it both has had and continues to have on the city.
“It’s unfortunate that the judgment of the organization’s officials differed so sharply from that of all the university leaders in New Orleans. Survival of Loyola University New Orleans was dependent on immediate and decisive action by the administration,” Wildes said.
According to Wildes, the AAUP also neglected to correct a number of factual errors that appeared in the draft report and again in the final draft. “They made a draft report and asked us to look for errors. We found in the section dealing with Loyola . . . about 35 to my knowledge. I won’t say none were corrected but very few were corrected in the final version. . . . They asked us about errors, we showed them the errors, they didn’t change them,” Wildes said.
Other censured university presidents had similar feelings on the AAUP’s decision. The spokesman for the Louisiana State University System that governs UNO said “AAUP’s vote to censure UNO ignores the facts and is a mindless exercise designed to shore up membership support that has apparently fallen on hard times,” according to an Associated Press article on the censures.
Tulane University president Scott Cowen said, “Ever since the storm, the AAUP, in pursuing its role as advocate for faculty members whose positions were eliminated, has shown an inability to grasp the impact of Katrina,” according to an Associated Press article.
Wildes also said that he believed the university’s response was the right course of action for Loyola and in its best interest, and it has allowed it to achieve stability during the aftermath.
“No university administration relishes the possibility of being censured. But despite it, we will continue on our course,” Wildes said in his response statement. Loyola’s administration plans to respond by continuing conversation, Wildes said, but the university would be fine.
Other Jesuit and prominent universities have overcome censure in the past.
“Marquette was sanctioned for 25 years and New York University was sanctioned at a time when it was rising to national prominence. I mean, I don’t like it. I don’t want to be on it, but we are going to keep working with them,” Wildes said.
Marquette University was sanctioned in 1976 for a violation of tenure standards in an individual case. Despite the difference in Marquette’s reason for sanction and Loyola’s, Wildes said there is no difference in the censure. “The censure is the censure. Marquette had to live with the same things that we had to live with and it didn’t seem to affect them one way at all, and NYU was the same,” Wildes said.
“The process of removing censure can be a very healing process that brings faculty and administration closer together. However, it must involve correcting the issues that brought about the censure in the first place,” Calzada said. Marquette was removed from the censure list this year after correcting the tenure issue.
One consequence of the censure affects how Loyola can advertise for faculty positions. Some professional associations won’t publish advertisements from censured universities or will note that the school has been censured with the advertisement, Wildes said.
Wildes also said the number of professional organizations that restrict advertisements is small and that Loyola will still be able to publish advertisements in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The censure may or may not influence a professor’s decision to come to Loyola. “It really depends on the professor, the censured institution and the reason for the censure,” Calzada said. “The AAUP itself advises that before accepting a position, the faculty member needs to seek additional information on what caused the censure and on the present conditions for academic freedom and faculty governance at the institution.”
Wildes believes the censure will not affect hiring, and that there are no indications it will be a problem for the university.
Tara Templeton can be reached at [email protected].
