Tenured Kentucky professors could be fired under a late addition to the state budget

College professors in Kentucky are furious after learning language was reintroduced in the state budget that would allow universities to fire tenured faculty when making financial cuts.

The provision, added by state Sen. Chris McDaniel, would allow public colleges and universities to remove positions if it changes or eliminates an academic program. McDaniel told Courier Journal that passage was added to the state budget bill after consulting with Kentucky university board members and presidents.

"The protections for academic freedom are still intact (under state law)," McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, said in a statement. "This language just affects the potentially eliminated programs."

Asked through a spokesman which university officials or presidents had been consulted, McDaniel said he did not want to mention anyone by name, "but that conversation did take place and he believes he has support for this language."

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Spokesmen for both University of Louisville and University of Kentucky said their presidents – Greg Postel and Eli Capilouto – and board chairs – J. David Grissom and Dr. Edward Britt Brockman – did not have talks with McDaniels about the provision.

When asked if Louisville plans to fight the provision, university spokesman John Karman said the school "is in Frankfort every day during the session fighting for higher education."

"We will continue to monitor the measure as it is debated in the General Assembly," Karman said.

Several other officials from universities across the state did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tenure is considered a core of academic freedom among university faculty that is bestowed on a select group of professors who have gone through a rigorous combination of research, publishing and teaching. But it has been under attack in recent years by Republican-led state legislatures and governors.

Susan Jarosi, president of the U of L chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said Wednesday there is a huge amount of anxiety about the proposal.

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"It's so destructive, it ignores completely how universities work and existing policy," she said.

Professor Ricky L. Jones, chairman of the Pan-African Studies Department, said this represents another attack on higher education.

"You've seen it historically where politicians or dictators with these type of sensibilities always attack intellectuals because they prefer a non-thinking citizenry," he said.

Jones, a former candidate for U of L president, said Wednesday morning that he would be contacting university officials about their stance on McDaniel's proposal.

"When you talk about 'brain drain' in Kentucky, moves like this will add to the more talented people in the state leaving, and it will prevent more talented people from around the country coming," Jones said.

Nancy McKenney, president of the AAUP's Kentucky conference, echoed those sentiments saying tenured faculty whose programs are eliminated should be moved to another area of the university because they are not tenured to a program but to the institution as a whole.

"The best and brightest faculty will no longer want to work in Kentucky," she said. "Those already working at universities in the commonwealth will be looking for greener pastures."

Gov. Matt Bevin had similar language about tenured faculty in his original budget that was presented earlier this year. The House removed those provisions in its version, but the language was added back by a 26-11 vote in the Senate last week.

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McDaniel, who is chairman of the Senate budget committee, said the governor's office had no input in crafting the substitute provision.

Jarosi said she is skeptical about McDaniel's claim that he has support from university leaders when he won't specify who is backing the provision.

"The whole language that 'I have support of university presidents' makes us have this question about what Dr. Postel is doing behind closed doors, what the board of trustees is doing behind closed doors that we don't know about," she said.

McKenney, who is a professor at Eastern Kentucky University, said she isn't aware of President Michael Benson's meeting with any lawmakers about changes to tenure protections.

"I cannot imagine that any university president would want to alienate faculty and tarnish his/her academic reputation by supporting such a provision," she said.

She said the most objectionable part of the provision is that a university board shall provide ten days' notice in writing to the faculty member or members being removed.

McKenney said such an abrupt firing could harm students and might jeopardize an institution's accreditation. She added it is, "completely inadequate for any faculty member but especially for those who have gone through the rigorous process necessary to obtain tenure."

The move regarding tenured faculty would come at a time when Kentucky universities are getting rid of programs and offering faculty members buyouts after years of deep budget cuts.

Since 2008, Kentucky's public post-secondary education system has been cut by 26.4 percent, or $2,832 per student, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Bevin proposed 6.25 percent cuts to higher education, but the House's 2-year budget tried to protect colleges and universities from those reductions. The Senate version put Bevin's cuts back in place, however.

Kentucky is not the first state to take aim at the tenure system at public universities.

In Wisconsin, for instance, Gov. Scott Walker wrote tenure protections out of state law, instead leaving those decision-making powers to the individual schools' board of regents. The board initially adopted the old tenure language, which only allowed for layoffs of tenured faculty for just cause or in the case of a system-wide financial emergency.

Despite faculty objections, the University of Wisconsin board approved changes in 2016 to allow for tenured faculty layoffs when academic programs are discontinued.

A bill to eliminate tenure at state universities was also proposed in Iowa this year. The bill died after opposition led by the Iowa Board of Regents and state university administrators.

The fate of McDaniel's tenure provision will be decided — as with the rest of the budget bill — by Democratic and Republican leaders who are negotiating the state's spending plan in the final days of the session.

Phillip M. Bailey: 502-582-4475; pbailey@courier-journal.com. Justin Sayers: 502-582-4252; jsayers@gannett.com; Twitter: @_JustinSayers. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/philb.