Statement of NSHE Faculty Senate chairs on termination of tenured faculty

The Council of Faculty Senate chairs of the Nevada System of Higher Education (on which UNLV is very ably represented by Senate immediate past chair Cecilia Maldonado) today made the following statement to the Board of Regents on the prospect of the termination of tenured faculty through curricular review. These terminations are part the System's reduction of $85 million annual operating expenses as part of the state budget just passed by the legislature earlier this month.

The termination of any staff and faculty is of great concern to everyone in the NSHE community, but the termination of tenured faculty is a particularly significant line for any academic institution or system to cross. To terminate tenured faculty without a declaration of financial exigency is worth careful attention, as this will attract scrutiny from the national higher education community, and in the future will very likely impede our efforts to retain and recruit the very best faculty. In fact, NSHE has already received negative national publicity for adopting this practice.

Therefore, we, the Faculty Senate chairs, note that at this meeting, for the second year in a row, the Board will be asked to approve a plan for termination of tenured faculty, without declaration of exigency, under curricular review. Without commenting on the specific curricular review plan, which is the prerogative of each campus, we simply ask on behalf of faculty that the Board give careful scrutiny to the issue of terminating tenured faculty.