With its final post-Katrina lawsuit settled, Loyola administration is now working with a national faculty advocacy group to lift sanctions placed on it in response to university restructuring.
The American Association of University Professors is a watchdog organization that works to preserve academic freedom and tenure by investigating cases of undermined academic freedom in universities across the nation.
Provost Edward Kvet is working with the American Association of University Professors to lift the censure put in place following the “Pathways” plan.
Connie Rodriguez, associate professor of languages and AAUP Loyola Chapter president has put together a team of four AAUP Loyola chapter members to participate in negotiations with Kvet to address the group’s concerns. Team members include Connie Rodriguez, associate professor of languages, Lynn Koplitz, professor of Chemistry, Maria Calzada, associate professor of Mathematics, and Ralph Tucci, professor of Mathematics.
If the team believes that the censure should be lifted, then they will pass their recommendations up to AAUP national.
“There are set procedures and guidelines that have to be followed,” said Rodriguez. “Just because cases have settled doesn’t mean now censure is lifted.”
According to a letter to Loyola University President Kevin Wildes from Jordan Kurland, associate general secretary of the AAUP dated Dec. 15, 2010, Loyola must meet three criteria before censure is lifted.
The first requirement is that Loyola must provide “satisfactory redress in the cases that led to the censure and any subsequent major cases.”
The second requirement is that Loyola has official policies on academic freedom that are consistent with ones recommended by AAUP.
The third requirement is that there be “a current climate at the institution that is favorable for academic freedom,” Kurland wrote.
Kurland wrote in the letter that Loyola’s faculty handbook is in agreement with recommendations by the AAUP but that the administration did not follow its own handbook in this respect.
“It’s not the handbook that’s broken,” said Rodriguez. “It’s the administration’s use of the handbook that’s broken.” Rodriguez used Tulane as an example of an institution that did not have policies endorsed by the AAUP but has since re-written parts of their faculty handbook to include them.
Kurland also raised concerns in the letter about the Spring 2006 votes of “no confidence” by both the University Senate and the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences in the Provost’s office and in the “development of the ill-fated Pathways plan.”
Among the obstacles preventing the removal of censure, Rodriguez believes that the structures governing both official and ad hoc committees are not democratic.
According to Meredith Hartley, director of Public Affairs, “The University Faculty Handbook Revision Committee is reviewing all committee protocols and expects to make its recommendation by the end of this semester.”
“Ad hoc committees have been established to address specific needs not addressed by other standing committees. The ad hoc committees have or are formulating proposals to become permanent committees,” said Hartley in an e-mail.
According to Rodriguez, in many cases the AAUP will not lift censure until there is “a complete and total over-haul of the administration.” She said that the administration is largely new, with the exception of the president.
According to the e-mail from Hartley, “We have no information from AAUP indicating that ‘a complete and total over-haul of administration’ is a condition of lifting censure.”
In his letter, Kurland invited the University Senate and AAUP chapter to advise the AAUP of whether or not the 2006 vote of “no confidence” still stands. Kurland closed the letter by asking to hear from all parties by mid-January.
After Hurricane Katrina effectively shut down Loyola for a semester, the university faced a 38% drop in incoming freshmen in the 2005-2006 academic years, amounting to a cyclical tuition revenue shortfall of about $12.9 million, according to a letter written by Wildes in December 2006. In restructuring the university, named the “Pathways” plan, a number of programs of study were terminated. This resulted with 11 tenured faculty, six tenure-tracked faculty and 72 staff members losing their jobs.
The final case, Mary Blue v. Loyola University, officially settled in early November 2010. Its terms are subject to a non-disclosure agreement for all parties.
Loyola University has been listed on the AAUP’s list of censured universities since 2007 for actions arising after Hurricane Katrina. The AAUP imposes and lifts censure on institutions during their annual meetings. The next one is scheduled in June.
Jordan Kurland, Associate General Secretary for the AAUP, could not be reached in time for the printing of this story.
Jean-Paul Arguello can be reached at
