OPEN LETTER TO LSU FACULTY MEMBERS

                                                                                                                                                                August 30, 2000

        I am writing to inform you of the recent activities of the LSU Chapter, the LSU Faculty Senate, and the LSU System Administrators. We have been battling the restriction of Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure on several fronts. A draft policy statement (PS) for the dismissal for cause of tenured faculty that was offered by our administrators had several major faults. Basically, it was designed to speed the departure of faculty members identified by administrators as being worthy of dismissal. We, the AAUP officers and the LSU Faculty Senate, drafted an improved PS, approved by the Chancellor's Office, and promulgated as PS-104. This PS provides for a dismissal hearing committee of five to seven faculty members (not administrators) from eight nominees from the Faculty Senate and eight nominees from the LSU Chapter of the AAUP, and a representative of the National AAUP office. 

        The second issue, the definition of a process of post-tenure review, was forced on the LSU System by System President Jenkins. This policy, if one focuses on the final statement of Permanent Memorandum 35 (as issued Nov. 22, 1999), appeared to allow administrators to rapidly remove tenured faculty members, who did not (immediately) respond positively to the remediation as directed by the department head. Revised on May 23, 2000, PM-35 now provides a detailed procedure for "getting rid of" unwanted faculty members. The administrators of all Louisiana universities may follow the LSU System (i.e, Southeastern has instituted it), and this may also become a pattern for non-public university administrators. Read carefully the article on LSU Faculty Ranks in the May-June 2000, ACADEME, pp 38-41. This article represents an end-run on the faculty and the AAUP by putting into print a policy that is clearly identified as not being accepted policy (p.39). The LSU Faculty Senate recommended retraction of PM-35 (SR00-14, May 1, 2000). Of course, Faculty Senate Resolution SR-00-14 may be ignored. Since the University of New Orleans has passed a Post-Tenure Review document, plans are underway to insert the revised PM-35 in the LSU Promotion and Tenure Policy Statement, PS-36. Likewise, so far, the LSU Faculty Senate Resolution on Tenure has been ignored. I remember the words of a non-university member of the business community, who, upon learning about PM-35, reflexively made the statement "Post-tenure review is the same as NO TENURE AT ALL."
        I encourage you to be an active member in the AAUP; see brouchure for membership benefits and application form or call 1-800-424-2973. Let's join together to defeat these limitations on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure in Louisiana. Furthermore, a large pool of eligible faculty AAUP members is needed from which to nominate persons to dismissal hearing committees, as the trend appears to portend more tenured faculty dismissals.


Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Theron G. (Ron) Snider III
Professor, President, LSU Chapter of AAUP
RM. 2301, SVM Bldg, LSU & A and M College
email: rsnider@mail.vetmed.lsu.edu

CC: Dr. John Drilling, Secretary, LSU Chapter of the AAUP