Dive Summary:
- A report released Thursday by the American Association of University Professors slams National Louis University's termination of over 60 faculty members, as well as four academic departments and 14 academic programs.
- According to the report, the university had no acceptable financial or educational justification for the layoffs--16 of which happened to tenured professors--or the department and program closures, and its replacement of the full-time faculty with adjunct instructors raises doubts that the full-time professors' services weren't needed.
- National Louis President Nivine Megahed issued a statement Wednesday arguing that the school was "facing serious financial pressures" when the cuts were made, disputing the report's claims that the decisions were made with little faculty involvement and that they left the school heavily staffed by adjuncts.
From the article:
... In deciding where to make cuts, the report says, the university's administration "disregarded institutionally approved procedures for program review in favor of an ad hoc process of its own choosing," and its deliberations "were hurried and so 'confidential' as to be invisible to much of the faculty." ...