Visitors to the University Faculty Senate website see two timers ticking upward, one second at a time.
One timer, now up to more than 1,329 days, expresses how long the University has been under censure by the American Association of University Professors.
The University is under censure for two academic freedom violations. Resolving a third matter, better working conditions for long-term contingent faculty, would remove it from the list.
The AAUP believes instructors, who are not eligible for tenured positions, cannot exercise academic freedom if under constant fear of dismissal. Those fears often lead to conformity, said Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope.
AAUP censure has no legal bearing on a University, but the Faculty Senate contends its effects are far-reaching, and the senate frequently takes steps to be removed from the censure list.
“There is no direct penalty — however, such a censure can have an effect with regard to accreditation,” Cope said. “It certainly has an effect with regard to the way that the rest of academe sees an individual institution, and that of course has a bearing on whether that institution attracts grants, contracts, research support, federal government support, whatever.”
The senate’s most recent attempt at seeking relief from the censure comes after a surprise letter from LSU President F. King Alexander to the AAUP stating the University “does not plan to pursue any further action regarding removal of censure.”
Resolution 15-05, to be voted on March 17, resolves to establish a committee of Faculty Senate members and presidential designees to bring the University into AAUP compliance.
“The president did a little bit of surprise act on Jan. 27 and announced that he, on behalf of the University, was pulling out from negotiations from the AAUP,” Cope said. “This was a shocker for the faculty, and it was also disappointing that this was done in such a low-key, almost undercover fashion.”
The censure’s effect on faculty could bleed into the lives of students, Cope said.
While the censure does not stop instructors from working, the AAUP serves to point out what it sees as poor working conditions.
“Most generally, the offenses that lead to censure in modern times are either impairments of academic freedom or inappropriate and demeaning working conditions, rules and contracts,” Cope said. “In the judgment of the AAUP, that is the case at LSU.”
Subpar working conditions could induce higher faculty turnover and stop students from forming beneficial relationships with instructors.
“LSU did make a little bit of progress insofar as it created a special designation of ‘senior instructor,’” Cope said. “But the fact remains that somebody who is a contingent position, even somebody who has been here for a long period of time … can be dismissed — some at will, some at the expiration of their contract.”
Cope also pointed to recent three-year, rather than annual, contract renewals for instructors as improvements to the policy, but said it would take adding a hearing and other due process considerations for instructor dismissal before censure can be lifted.
The AAUP draws its power from its large membership base and century-old reputation. The institution, started in 1915, now has more than 450 university-based chapters.
But Alexander, who is in favor of a federal rating system, questioned the validity of raw rankings and metrics as a measure of a quality institution, according the resolution.
The Senate has not had discussions with Alexander regarding AAUP censure since before his withdrawal from negotiations.