ASLE Statement in Opposition to KBOR Suspension of Tenure Policy

This statement is in response to a new Kansas Board of Regents policy that suspends the procedures of shared governance, including tenure protection, in order to ease dismissals, suspensions, and terminations.

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The leadership of ASLE: Association for the Study of Literature and Environment condemns the recent decision of the Kansas Board of Regents to suspend tenure for two years without going through the already-established procedures that mandate a declaration of financial exigency, budget transparency, protection for faculty rights, and close coordination with faculty governance in implementing any layoffs.

This action is a subversion of shared governance and a catastrophe for free inquiry and learning. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues at the University of Kansas, whose administration has agreed to implement this decision against the judgment of the faculty. We applaud the other Kansas state universities who have defied this decision, and urge them to continue their defiance.

The destruction of tenure and due process at the University of Kansas threatens all of American academia. We call upon our individual members to support efforts to overthrow this decision and encourage them to sign the petition by following the link below.

https://sites.google.com/view/kufacultydemands/solidarity-statement