AAUP to Investigate Linfield U and Collin College | Inside Higher Ed

The American Association of University Professors said this week that it’s investigating two institutions for alleged violations of academic freedom. At Linfield University in Oregon, the AAUP will be examining the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, the former Ronni Lacroute Chair in Shakespeare Studies. Pollack-Pelzner publicly criticized the university’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations involving members of Linfield’s Board of Trustees and accused some trustees, including the university president, of making anti-Semitic comments. He was fired soon after, with Linfield accusing Pollack-Pelzner of “conduct that is harmful to the university” and of circulating “false statements.”

The AAUP said in a statement about its investigation that dismissing a tenured professor “without the administration’s having first demonstrated adequacy of cause is in violation of principles and procedures established by the AAUP and the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and endorsed by more than two hundred other groups in higher education. AAUP principles and procedures are in fact incorporated into the Linfield University faculty handbook, so the administration’s action against Professor Pollack-Pelzner was evidently taken in flagrant violation, not only of AAUP-recommended standards, but of the institution’s own regulations.”

Linfield said in a statement that it does not have an AAUP union chapter on campus, and while “we respect the AAUP, this matter is not suitable for resolution through an ad hoc committee of a private, outside organization.”

At Collin College in Texas, the AAUP is investigating the summary dismissal of Suzanne Jones, a former longtime professor of education, and the nonrenewal of Lora Burnett, a former professor of history. “The stated basis for the dismissals of Professor Jones was her critique of the administration’s COVID-19 policies, in evident violation of her academic freedom to address any institutional policy or action while exercising her governance responsibilities,” the AAUP said in its announcement. “The stated reasons for the nonrenewal of Professor Lora Burnett were that she made ‘private personnel issues public that impair the college’s function’ and engaged in ‘personal criticisms of coworkers, supervisors, and/or those who merely disagree’ with her, which suggests that the nonrenewal may have been in response to activity which should be protected by academic freedom — speaking freely as a citizen and as an educational officer of her institution.”

Collin did not respond to a request for comment about the investigation.

Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our  Twitter, & Facebook

We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.

For all the latest Education News Click Here 

 For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! TechiLive.in is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – admin@techilive.in. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
Exit mobile version