Situation
Professor Molly Rosell, Chair of a mid-sized department, has been notified by her Dean that the school is under financial pressure and that as a result, the Sociology Department will be downsized. Scott Katz, an untenured faculty member in his fourth year, has been evaluated by the faculty in the past as an excellent classroom teacher whose research productivity is not up to expected levels. In this university, tenure track faculty are hired on an annual basis until they are considered for tenure in their sixth year. The Dean suggests strongly that Scott Katz be terminated because of his slow research progress. The Dean offers Chair Rosell temporary allocations for instructors – funded by the course – in order to lower costs but maintain (or even increase) the student credit hours for the department.
Questions
- What are the ethical obligations of Chair Rosell to untenured faculty members like Scott Katz during downsizing actions? What steps should the Chair take to ensure that fair employment and termination procedures are in place?
- Does downsizing threaten Chair Rosell’s responsibility to provide a high quality teaching program to students? What are the ethical responsibilities of the Chair to ensure that students have access to courses needed for their undergraduate requirements?
- Do the Chair and other faculty members have an ethical obligation to maintain a high proportion of tenure track positions in the department?
- What ethical complications arise if Dr. Katz applied for one of the temporary teaching positions?
Discussion
From the perspective of the Chair, it is technically possible to maintain student credit hours by following the Dean’s recommendation. It is also likely that the Chair has little alternative than to follow the expectations of the Dean. However, the American Association of University Professors and the American Sociological Association ad hoc committee on unemployed and under-employed sociologists have raised awareness of the legal, ethical and professional consequences of increasing the temporary labor force of academics. It is important for departments of sociology, along with their Chair, to demonstrate the need for secure tenure track positions to accomplish their goals for their teaching program, as well as the department research program. They might want to discuss why the Dean seems willing to switch budget dollars into teaching and abandon support of the department’s research goals through tenure track resources.
Department members and the Chair should review their annual evaluation procedures to ensure that Scott Katz had adequate notification that his research publication rate was at issue. They should also ensure that the department’s criteria for reappointment and tenure are adequately articulated and that these are linked with the College and Dean’s expectations. The larger political issues of a rising proportion of underemployed, itinerant academics in sociology should also be addressed as a policy issue within the department. Strategic planning for budget changes can better place a department to defend its tenure track positions, or regain those lost to resignations or retirement. The discipline has a clear interest in maintaining a healthy academic labor market for its graduates, though this may not (does not?) meet the level of an ethical principle.
