[NYTr] Academic Freedpm - Larudee Tenure Appeal Denial by DePaul Univ

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Francis A. Boyle

De Paul University: Academic Joke & Fraud 

PRESS RELEASE ON LARUDEE APPEAL DENIAL

[The denial of tenure to Larudee, and the fact that the Review Board
sustained that decision, has created a state of uncertainty regarding
the rights of faculty at DePaul University. Junior faculty in particular
are feeling pressure to avoid any stance that may be construed as
controversial. - Francis A. Boyle]


http://www.academicfreedomchicago.org

10/31/2007  **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** 

Media Contact: Daniel Klimek
773-817-1291
Dpk24g at gmail.com


Tenure Process Violated DePaul Professor's Rights, Review Board says

Professor Mehrene Larudee's rights were violated by DePaul University
during her tenure process, according to a Review Board decision issued
October 26. Unanimously approved for tenure by her department, the
International Studies Program, as well as the College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences (LA&S), she was turned down by the University Board on
Promotion and Tenure (UBPT) in May, and the president denied her tenure
in June. It is widely thought that she was denied for supporting Prof.
Norman Finkelstein during his controversial tenure case last spring. 

According to the Faculty Handbook, Larudee should have been notified
promptly both of the fact that the UBPT had voted against tenure for her
and of the reasons why. Had this rule been followed, she would have had
a chance to give the President reasons to reverse the UBPT decision. The
Review Board agreed that her rights were violated, but offered no
remedy, saying the Handbook has no defined mechanism for a response to
the President. Larudee insists the Handbook does define a right to
respond. The Review Board also rejected her separate claim that her
academic freedom was violated. 

The Review Board ignored evidence, too, that the UBPT failed to use
criteria prescribed in the Faculty Handbook to evaluate her performance,
as the lower levels had. Many at DePaul wonder why the UBPT failed to
follow the written guidelines, and why the Review Board made no response
to Larudee's objections. Possibly the Review Board decided this was
beyond the scope of their mandate. If so, says senior International
Studies student Evan Lorendo, "I strongly disagree. It implies that many
rules for evaluating faculty for tenure in the Faculty Handbook are
unenforceable." Victor Lang, a senior Economics student, says, "Larudee
is an excellent instructor, a good scholar and should be tenured. This
is a loss for the students of the International Studies Program." 

The Review Board of three, a dean and two faculty, of whom one recently
served as an administrator, excluded faculty from the College of LA&S
where Larudee and about half of DePaul faculty teach.  Its decision
stands in stark contrast to a recent report by an ad hoc Academic
Freedom Task Force of faculty in the College of LA&S. The report
insisted that if a candidate is endorsed for tenure at the department
and college levels-as Larudee was-then the UBPT may only reverse that
decision by uncovering procedural error or bias at the lower levels. The
UBPT decision against Larudee's tenure cited no such procedural error or
bias. 

Larudee is exploring further action to challenge the tenure denial. 

The denial of tenure to Larudee, and the fact that the Review Board
sustained that decision, has created a state of uncertainty regarding
the rights of faculty at DePaul University. Junior faculty in particular
are feeling pressure to avoid any stance that may be construed as
controversial. 

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