Texas Southern University corrects tenure status for two deans amid lawsuit
A group of people are excited as they leave Texas Southern University’s Robert James Terry Library, a poll location, after voting Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, in Houston.Texas Southern University officials informed at least two college deans they did not have tenure, three years after they were hired believing they held the coveted position, according to court testimony.
They also pose differing explanations for the apparent blunder: Texas Southern’s lawyers said that the university erred in following standard academic practices that typically require deans to hold tenured faculty positions, but opposing attorneys said they fear that deans have become collateral damage in the school’s defense of Bullock’s lawsuit.Tenure is a highly protected status that provides educators job security and safeguards the freedom to teach and conduct research as they choose.
“TSU is in a strange position, Your Honor, because it admittedly did not follow the procedures it wanted to follow,” said Leif Olson, who is representing the university. “One more accreditation problem is not the end of the world for Thurgood, and if, in fact, the school’s reputation is like that, Dean Bullock can explain it to people.
Bullock agreed that she faced problems in her position – but not ones of her own doing, she said. She accused the school of gender discrimination and retaliation for having recently raised concerns about the school’s accreditation. For two years Bullock said she warned university administrators that they were wrongfully withholding funds designated for the law school, which could result in further problems with the Bar Association.
The former dean said she first heard she didn’t have tenure when the university filed a response to her lawsuit in early November, insisting that while Bullock was hired as dean with the understanding she would become tenured, the Board of Regents never held a necessary separate vote to grant her the privilege. Olson said none of the tenure protections such as just cause or hearings were given to Bullock, because she didn’t have tenure.
Academic deans are usually required to have tenure, both as a recruitment strategy and because of job duties that require them to recommend tenure for others, higher education researchers said. Texas Southern's faculty handbook also dictates that deans hold a faculty rank and qualify to be appointed as tenured.
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