Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 7, 1993 TAG: 9312070134
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The vote is in response to the board's apparent failure to follow its own guidelines for granting tenure. It goes forward despite one effort to table the action, as well as a stiff warning about the message it will send throughout the state.
"Regardless of the outcome, the act of voting on this issue will do irreparable damage to the university," said Charles Owens, vice president for academic affairs. "Private donations will disappear. This university will be singled out in the state budget, possibly in a way we don't want to be singled out."
The motion to stop the vote was offered Monday by an ad hoc committee formed in September by the faculty to investigate the board's decision last April to grant tenure to Charles Wood Jr., a long-time aide to university president Donald Dedmon.
The faculty says the board did not follow tenure guidelines outlined in the school's faculty/staff handbook. The board maintains the action is allowed under its authority.
Votes will be cast by secret ballot Wednesday and Thursday, and the outcome will be announced Friday, said Tom Mullis, president of the faculty of about 430.
While some faculty members stress that the issue has nothing to do with Wood himself - who attended Monday's meeting of more than 200 - they accused the board of failing to understand the concept of tenure, historically granted to teachers to protect their academic views.
"In all my 35 years here, I have never seen such a serious situation," said John A. Rutherford, an education professor. "The sole purpose of tenure is protecting the academic integrity of the faculty."
Although some see tenure essentially as job security, professors Monday pointed out the lengthy process academicians follow in trying - not always successfully - to become tenured. Probationary teaching periods of six years are common. Peer reviews are standard.
Thomas McMillan, a professor of math and statistics, called the board's action "an assault on the academic community."
The board's rector, Marion Jones, said last week that giving tenure to Wood was a one-time event, allowed under the board's authority. In a written statement issued late Monday, Jones said, "I am surprised that a group of faculty would want to continue to escalate this issue of what can only be termed an exceptional case of tenure."
Last week, she wrote a letter to the committee, defending the board's action as appropriate and lawful. The letter said that "continuation of this issue can only be counter-productive and damaging" to the relationship between the board and faculty, and that the university's interests were ill-served by the inquiry.
The letter did not sit well with some on Monday.
"I am appalled by the response," said English professor Alex Weiss. "If we stand by and let it go, a dangerous precedent will be set. [The letter] says, `Butt out.' It's very much our business."
Monday's meeting came a week after the board heard faculty concerns over the university's decision to start giving pay raises on a merit-only basis. The practice is standard at some universities, although others issue across-the-board pay increases.
Dedmon issued a statement late Monday fully backing the board.
Meantime, tensions on campus have not gone unnoticed by students.
"There's a lot of commotion as to what really is going on," said student government president Ali Hebler. "I think more than anything, students are raising questions about what's going on."
Memo: ***CORRECTION***