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OF RECORD
October 30, 2007, Volume 54, No. 10

In August of 2006, the President and the Provost asked the Senate Committee on Faculty and the Administration (SCOA) to review the University’s current policy on the Temporary Exclusion of a Faculty Member (Handbook II.E.18). Of concern was the apparent lack of flexibility to permit a timely response in emergency situations, and the failure to address a situation in which a faculty member is charged with a serious criminal offense but where the alleged offense would not indicate that the faculty member posed a risk of immediate harm to others. SCOA drafted a revised policy that was then reviewed by the Provost and the Council of Deans, and the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility (SCAFR).The revised policy was presented and approved by the Senate Executive Committee on May 16, 2007. It was then approved by the Trustees October 19, 2007.

Policy for the
Temporary Suspension or Exclusion of a Faculty Member

II.E.18. Temporary Suspension or Exclusion of a Faculty Member

(Source: Standing Resolution of the Trustees, September 9, 1983, revised October 19, 2007)

The President or Provost may temporarily suspend a faculty member from teaching or other University duties, or exclude the faculty member from University facilities, under the following two conditions:

1. There is a substantial risk of immediate harm to persons, equipment or other property from the faculty member’s continuation in his or her University functions or from the faculty member’s continued presence at the University, or

2. The faculty member has been charged under the law with an offense based on conduct recognized as criminal in the United States.

In cases under the second category, the faculty member may only be suspended or excluded if the offense charged, if proven, would indicate the faculty member’s inability or unfitness to perform his or her University duties. Before taking action to suspend or exclude the faculty member in such cases, the President or Provost shall seek the advice of the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility (SCAFR).

A temporary suspension or exclusion must not exceed fifteen working days. The President or Provost, however, may extend the suspension or exclusion if the original conditions warranting temporary suspension or exclusion continue to exist, but only upon consultation and in agreement with two-thirds of the members, present and voting, of SCAFR. In no instance should a temporary suspension or exclusion continue when the stated grounds for the suspension or exclusion no longer exist. Compensation of a faculty member shall not be discontinued as a result of a temporary suspension or exclusion.

Immediately upon invoking the powers of temporary suspension or exclusion, the President or Provost must inform the chair of the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility (SCAFR) that action has been taken under this provision. The President or Provost shall thereafter furnish the faculty member with a written explanation of the basis for the suspension or exclusion within two working days. The faculty member must also receive written notice and explanation for any extension of the temporary suspension or exclusion within two days of any such extension. The faculty member must be invited to respond in writing to any notification of suspension or exclusion, or any extension thereof, and should furnish SCAFR with a copy of such response.

Almanac - October 30, 2007, Volume 54, No. 10