ENMU board tables faculty employment issue

A decision to hand over employment fates of Eastern New Mexico University faculty members to the university's board of regents was tabled Friday after more than 20 faculty members flooded into the board of regents meeting to discuss the issue.

Following a personnel incident at the ENMU Roswell campus, Roswell’s faculty handbook was changed to make the board of regents the final decision on whether faculty members will be terminated or maintained.

Friday's meeting agenda included a discussion of adding the same policy to the faculty handbook at the Portales campus.

The policy was tabled during the meeting due to lack of deliberation and faculty input, according to President Steven Gamble. The meeting included the faculty senate’s recommendation for revising the faculty handbook, the board of regent’s ideas and commentary from the attendees on the ideas.

Gamble said the purpose of the meeting was to hear professors’ opinions of the policy, but some faculty reported not being alerted to the discussion until two hours before it was to take place.

Some faculty in attendance also expressed disapproval of the policy change.

“One of things I loved when I first came to Eastern three years ago was the student success,” said Fred Greene, a professor who presented the faculty senate’s recommended revision to fix the policy. “This requires a collegiate faculty that can work together, a commitment from various parties to make sure student success is really what it is about, and an administration that works with the faculty and backs them up.”

Greene’s proposal emphasized shared governance, following the American Association of University Professors policy, and included faculty committee involvement in termination while preserving the process done at the school.

Greene said the new policy presented by the board could destroy trust between faculty and the administration. He said in order for an air of collaboration to exist on campus, there must be a mutual respect between the faculty and the administration.

He called the revisions is evidence the main campus policy is being unnecessarily driven by issues at a branch of the school.

“This policy will kill this campus,” Greene said.

Gamble said the meeting was a success, because the board was able to hear the commentary and ideas from the faculty while “getting the ball rolling” on making changes.

“I know this is an important decision,” Gamble said. “In each of these processes, a faculty committee has an important role and makes recommendations.”

Gamble said the recommendations are used in the final processes of decisions, despite the final determination being made by the Board of Regents.

Just cause, or reason for termination, was one of the major points touched on during the meeting.

Roswell’s new policy includes a section on what is cause for termination, and Greene said the just cause reasons are vague and dangerous to the faculty, even if faculty trusts current administration to make sound decisions.

“We wouldn’t be at this meeting if President Gamble could promise us he’d be president for 30 more years, but policy has to be bigger than individuals,” Greene said. “It has to protect us from future administrators who might be less fair.”

Gamble said his hope is that future administration will have the same ethical ideals as him and the current board.

The “just cause” section of Roswell’s policy includes incompetence, inefficiency, insubordination, and negligence as reasoning for terminating faculty.

Board Member Veronica Ayala said she also saw the policy as being vague and agreed that was an issue. She reasoned that a professor who went ouf of his or her way to help a student one-on-one could be labeled as inefficent and in danger of termination.

Daniel Acheson-Brown, who assisted Greene in presenting the new faculty senate proposal, brought up similar situations. He asked if bringing his dog, if he were to have one, into the office could be seen as “misappropriation of university property” and grounds for termination.

“We want to try and prevent malicious accusers of succeeding when it’s an academic freedom issue,” said Acheson-Brown.

Patrice Caldwell, executive director of planning and analysis, said this definition of just cause was not created “out of the blue” and was pulled from the staff handbook.

Gamble said the power to make these decisions should be with the board.

“The Board of Regents has that authority, but it doesn’t in the Eastern system,” Gamble said.

Other items on the agenda were also tabled at the Friday meeting due to lack of time.