Report Slams UNI Administration's Actions During Academic Program Closures

The American Association of University Professors has released a report slamming University of Northern Iowa administrator's actions during a round of budget-related program closures earlier this year.

"UNI administration violated basic standards of academic freedom, tenure, and due process," the report says.

The report comes after UNI faculty contacted the AAUP during the controversial program closures, during which numerous faculty positions were eliminated via early retirement packages.

AAUP representatives visited campus and met with faculty and faculty senate and United Faculty union leaders in May, as well as with UNI President Ben Allen, Provost Gloria Gibson, Associate Provost Virginia Arthur and Regents executive director Robert Donley.

The AAUP report said the program closures, which shuttered 78 academic programs, were made without faculty consultation and "reflected no constructive academic purposed and were created solely as a device for laying off members of the faculty whom the administration no longer wished to retain."

UNI President Ben Allen issued a statement Friday disagreeing with the AAUP's statements.

"University leadership is obligated to not only consider the best interests of the faculty, but also the taxpayers, staff, alumni, and most importantly our students," he said. "The program changes were made with all of those stakeholders in mind."

The closures came in the midst of what UNI administration characterized as a stark budget situation. The AAUP report, however, alleges, "No legitimate basis, financial or otherwise, existed for the University of Northern Iowa administration’s actions to terminate faculty appointments."

Allen responded that, "The committee misapprehended the severity of the UNI financial emergency."

Allen said UNI received a draft of the report in October and was invited to address the AAUP's concerns. He said UNI provided a response and requested it be included in AAUP’s final report, but that request was largely ignored.

The report could lead to a vote of censure against UNI. Censure is essentially a red flag within the profession that the school does not meet standards of academic freedom and tenure. The AAUP board will vote the matter at its June 2013 meeting.

Allen sought to downplay the significance of such a vote.

"It's important to point out that the AAUP is not an accrediting body, and its opinions are just that -- opinions," he said.

Allen plans to retire by July 2013.