University of Missouri Professor Melissa Click is suspended pending further investigation, Board of Curators Chairwoman Pam Henrickson said Wednesday.

�The Board of Curators directs the general counsel or outside counsel selected by the general counsel to immediately conduct an investigation and to collaborate with the city attorney and promptly report back to the board so the board may determine whether additional discipline is appropriate,� Henrickson said.

UM System spokesman John Fougere said in an email that Click was suspended with pay. Fougere was not sure who will teach Click�s courses during her suspension.

Click, an assistant professor in MU�s Department of Communication, on Monday was charged with misdemeanor assault for her confrontation with student journalists at a demonstration on campus Nov. 9 after former UM System President Tim Wolfe resigned. She pleaded not guilty to the charge, a Class C misdemeanor punishable by as much as 15 days in jail and a $300 fine upon conviction.

Footage of Click�s confrontation with Mark Schierbecker, a student videographer, and Tim Tai, an MU student and photojournalist, during the demonstration went viral. Click can be heard on video ordering Schierbecker and Tai to leave the area and saying, �Who wants to help me get this reporter out of here? I need some muscle over here!�

Henrickson announced Click�s suspension after the curators met in closed session for nearly four hours Wednesday afternoon and evening. Henrickson declined to take questions from reporters. The curators� vote to suspend Click was unanimous, Fougere said.

Interim MU Chancellor Hank Foley said Monday that Click would keep her job at least through the tenure review process, which she is about halfway through. The university will tell everyone who applied for promotion and tenure this year of their decisions by Aug. 1.

Sam Cohen, an English professor at MU, said he and many of his colleagues were upset by the board�s decision.

�Regardless of what you think of what Professor Click did, this is a much bigger issue. We have a policy on this,� Cohen said. �Curators are not supposed to be involved in individual personnel decisions.�

Cohen said the policies exist to protect the university from outside interference. Curators, he said, made the decision under pressure from state legislators.

Ben Trachtenberg, chairman of the MU Faculty Council, said the curators should have given campus administrators a chance to handle the situation.

�You want to use procedures in the hard cases, the controversial cases so people don�t think you�re changing the rules on them,� Trachtenberg said.

More than 100 Republican state lawmakers called for Click�s firing in a letter to university officials. In response, more than 100 faculty members released a letter in support of Click.

State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, was among the lawmakers calling for Click to be fired. He said the board�s action did not change his opinion on the matter.

�At least it is a start that there is a recognition that there�s a problem, but it doesn�t really address the problem,� Schaefer said. �It is leave with pay. It is just a vacation.�

State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, said he trusts the curators to handle personnel matters without input from him or colleagues in the General Assembly.

�I don�t think it will lessen the hostility in this building among Republicans,� he said. �If anything, it may shift the focus to the next topic. I don�t know what that is.�

Rep. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, likened the Click situation to a cloud hanging over the university. Rowden said he signed the letter calling for Click�s firing because he generally believes that�s what the university should do.

�I don�t think we should be making large, broad decisions based on Melissa Click�s employment and I never did,� he said. �I don�t think that needs to be a significant part of the dialogue when it comes to appropriations or anything like that.�

House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, said he does not think the General Assembly will view MU any more favorably if the university takes action regarding Click.

�That situation is emblematic of what we see as some of the problems but not necessarily the problem,� he said. �What we want to see is solid leadership out of the institution and moving the university in a better direction than frankly it has been over the last several months.�

Cohen said the curators� decision decreased morale on campus the same day Foley delivered his State of the University address. Foley�s speech focused on moving forward from events that happened on campus this fall and using what happened to strengthen the university.

�This is a very bad situation for the national reputation of the university,� Cohen said. �We look like a national joke.�

Cohen said he hopes the American Association of University Professors becomes involved. On Twitter, Cohen encouraged others to tweet bylaws and AAUP statements with the hashtag �#IStandWithMelissaClick.�

This article was first published online on Wednesday, January 27, 2016 at 7:58 p.m.