Tag: AAUP

“… the delegates voted to sanction Antioch University (OH). Institutions are sanctioned for infringement of governance standards after an AAUP investigation has revealed serious departures from generally accepted standards of college and university government endorsed by the AAUP.”

http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/newsroom/2010Highlights/censure.htm

PDF version available

November 6, 2008

Dr. Tullisse A. Murdock
Chancellor
Antioch University
150 E. South College Street
Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387

Mr. Arthur J. Zucker
Chair, Board of Trustees
Antioch University
2012 Prescott Place
Raleigh, North Carolina 27615

Dear Chancellor Murdock and Chair Zucker:

In response to our letter of October 1 concerning our forthcoming governance investigation of Antioch University and the closing of Antioch College, Chancellor Murdock’s October 31 letter states that, owing to pending litigation, the “proposed investigation by AAUP would concern the same issues which are now being adjudicated. For that reason, and upon the advice of our legal counsel, we are not able to participate in any ‘investigation’ by AAUP.

With respect to our decision to authorize an ad hoc committee’s investigation of the college’s closing and related matters, we think it important that you understand our basic aims. The Association has, since its founding in 1915, sought to secure an understanding of sound academic standards in accredited American institutions ofhigher learning. It has issued statements of policy embodying these standards, frequently in cooperation with other leading organizations in the academic community. The 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities forms the basis of our interest in the issues regarding the faculty role in institutional governance posed by the Antioch case.

The AAUP decides whether to proceed with an investigation on a case by case basis; when it is necessary to investigate and report on institutional actions, the AAUP appoints an ad hoc committee that has not prejudged the matter. The committee issues findings on whether the institution’s actions appear to constitute significant departures from the AAUP’s recommended standards. In the Antioch case, we expect that information already available to the committee will be supplemented by the investigating committee’s written and oral communications with numerous individuals in Ohio and elsewhere. To the extent you believe the investigating committee has received an inaccurate representation of the developments at Antioch College or Antioch University, we invite you to supply any additional information.

Our Association has never maintained that the administration of a college or university is under any official obligation to participate in an investigation; indeed, on a number of occasions we have completed an investigation without an administration’s participation. It has been our experience, however, that administrations are in most instances cooperative. In addition, we have investigated many cases that have simultaneously been in litigation, and we have generally been sllccessful in avoiding the detrimental intrusion of one upon the other. We do not bclieve we would be meeting our responsibility to defend academic principles and procedures if we were to delay our investigation until litigation has concluded. Thus we believe that we are acting soundly in pursuing our own interest in the issues relating to academic principles and procedures instead of waiting until other approaches have run their course.

We have recently worked out dates for the committee’s visit to the Yellow Springs area: Monday, December 15 and Tuesday, December 16. We have in mind additional Antioch visits elsewhere. We hope that you will reconsider your administration’s decision all cooperating and will provide the investigating committee with your perspective on the issues of concern to us. Whether or not you meet with the committee, a report of the investigation and an invitation to respond will be sent to you and other concerned parties upon approval by the Association’s standing Committee on College and University Governance. Your corrections and comments will be taken into account in our preparation ofthe final text for publication.

In the days and weeks ahead, we shall, of course, be sensitive to any new developments that could affect how we proceed.

Anita Levy. Ph.D.
Associate Secretary

cc: Dr. David Caruso, President, Antioch University New England
Dr. Neal King, President, Antioch University Los Angeles
Dr. Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet, President, Antioch University Seattle
Dr. Michael Mulnix, President, Antioch University Santa Barbara
Dr. Zaki J. Sharif, Interim President, Antioch University McGregor
Dr. Laurien Alexandre, Director, PhD in Leadership & Change Program Antioch University
Antioch AAUP Membership
Adhoc Committee

PDF version available

October 1, 2008

Dr. Tullisse A. Murdock
Chancellor
Antioch University
150 E. South College Street
Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387

Mr. Arthur J. Zucker
Chair, Board of Trustees
Antioch University
2012 Prescott Pl
Raleigh, North Carolina 27615

Dear Chancellor Murdock and Chair Zucker:

Thank you for your letter of last March 21 responding to ours of March 14 (copies enclosed for your convenience). We were tempted to respond at the time, but thought it best to await further developments in the negotiations which were then moving rapidly. Now, with issues remaining unresolved but with a less turbulent situation in the new academic year underway, members of our staff, with the general secretary participating, have once again turned our attention to Antioch. We have come to the view that the closing of Antioch College, whether it proves to be temporary or permanent, is an event the AAUP needs to address. We have agreed that our focus should be upon the governance issues raised by the university’s closing of a core component of the institution and, indeed, its founding college. Among additional issues to be considered are the governance implications for the continuing institution, namely, whether, without the college, Antioch University will operate in accordance with basic principles of academic governance as enunciated in the enclosed Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities. As to Antioch College itself, we shall likely want to address the prospects of whether and in what form Antioch College will resume, and indeed, whether there was a realistic alternative to closing it when that was done.

In situations such as Antioch’s that present developments of basic concern to the academic community, our experience has indicated that it is desirable, in fairness to the institutional administration, to the affected faculty members, and to the institution as a whole, to establish an ad hoc committee composed of persons who have had no previous involvement with the particular matter, to conduct its own full inquiry and prepare a report. The general secretary has accordingly authorized the appointment of such a committee, charging it with reporting to the Association’s standing Committee on College and University Governance.

The following persons have accordingly been appointed to serve as the ad hoc committee charged with investigating the case of Antioch University and the closing of Antioch College:

Professor Diane C. Zannoni, chair
Department of Economics
Trinity College, Connecticut

Professor Ronald G. Ehrenberg
Department of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics
Cornell University

Professor Rudy Fichtenbaum
Department of Economics
Wright State University

Professor Duane Storti
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Washington – Seattle

We shall welcome your cooperation and shall be back in touch with you when we have dates to propose for a committee visit.

Sincerely,

Anita Levy, Ph.D.
Associate Secretary

Enclosures
cc: Dr. David Caruso, President, Antioch University New England
Dr. Barbara Gellman-Danley, President, Antioch University McGregor
Dr. Neal King, President, Antioch University Los Angeles
Dr. Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet, President, Antioch University Seattle
Dr. Michael Mulnix, President, Antioch University Santa Barbara
Dr. Laurien Alexandre, Director, PhD in Leadership & Change Program Antioch University
Antioch AAUP Membership
Ad hoc Committee