To: Joe Curran, Chair, Faculty Senate
From: Kathleen Owens, President
Subject: Board of Trustees Resolution from October 23, 2020
Date: October 26, 2020
C:
Faculty
David Rehm, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Trustees of Misericordia University
At its meeting on Friday, October 23, 2020, the Misericordia University Board of Trustees unanimously voted in favor of a resolution which suspends the awarding of tenure and the hiring of tenure-track faculty. A copy of this resolution is attached.
The Board, activing in the context of its responsibility to be faithful to the present and future of the University (i.e., its fiduciary responsibility), aware of the challenges of the relationship between enrollment on the one hand and full-time faculty on the other, mindful of the fact that of tenure eligible faculty, 65% are already tenured (and that tenuring a set of faculty in Feburary 2021 would have raised that percentage to over 70%), realizes that it is in the University's best interests to suspend the awarding of tenure for the time being, to allow tenure-eligible faculty to come up for promotion in February 2021, and to request a study of tenure over the next 20 months.
The Board of Trustees has charged the administration with leading this study. I want to ensure that this study is done with open minds and hearts, that it encompasses reflection on the realities and needs of the university as a whole, and that it lives out the spirit of shared governance. For that reason, I will assemble a task force comprised of faculty, trustees, and administrators to review the value of tenure, to assess its status on out campus, and to make recommendations about how we may proceed moving forward. Over the next several weeks, I will prepare a more detailed charge for the group.
In the meantime, I write to inform you of the Board's decision and invite you to be in continuing dialogue with me and Dr. David Rehm regarding this challenging issue.
As always, I thank you for the work that you, your fellow Senators, and the entirety of the faculty do on behalf of Misericordia University and our students.
Whereas, the Board of Trustees ("Board") of Misericordia University ("Misericordia") retains the "ultimate responsibility" for Misericordia, and "cannot delegate their fiduciary responsibility for the academic integrity and financial health of the institution" (Governing Documents, I 6.1.1); and
Whereas, the Board recognizes the value of tenure at Misericordia and its significant role in assuring the quality of academic credentials, teaching excellence, scholarship, professional development and service; and
Whereas, the Faculty Handbook (4.7) includes, among the factors to be taken into consideration in making tenure decisions, the Board's responsibility to consider the "Needs of the University" (4.4.1.3); and [Transcriber's note: There is no Section 4.4.1.3 in the current Faculty Handbook (revised June 2014). Needs of the University are in Section 4.7.1.3]
Wheras, the Board has reviewed Misericordia's multi-year history of declining enrollment and the unsustainable imbalance in student-faculty ratios when compared with peer institutions; and
Whereas, between fiscal year's [sic] 2014-2020 the number of fulltime faculty positions has increased from 111 to 144, and the total number of student credit hours has decreased by 10,931 credits; and
Whereas, sixty-five percent (65%) of Misericordia's tenure-eligible faculty are tenured and thirty-three (33) tenure-eligible faculty are in the tenure pipeline; and
Whereas, the Board must have the flexibility essential to fulfill its fiduciary responsibility for the "academic integrity and financial health of the institution"; and
Whereas, the Board has considered both the data-driven implications of the staffing and financial information presented by Administration to the Academic Affairs & Student Life and Finance Committees and the challenging current and future landscape of American higher education,
The Board now, therefore, adopts the following resolutions:
Resolved, that Misericordia shall suspend immediately all tenure decisions; and
Futher resolved, that Misericordia will place immediately a freeze on new tenure-track appointmentsl and
Further resolved, that the Board requests the Administration lead a study of tenured, tenure-track and non-tenured faculty staffing levels and appointments that includes recommendations to ensure the near-term and long-term "academic integrity and financial health of the institution," with a preliminary report due to the Board at its February 2022 meeting and a final report due at its June 2022 meeting.
10232020-approved by BOT