The rule revision also allows the president to eliminate individual faculty positions for “bona fide academic reasons.”
Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman/Getty Images
Faculty members at the University of Texas at Austin say new systemwide personnel policy changes could pave the way for politically motivated program closures and further disenfranchise faculty from decision-making related to their own departments. And, according to the Board of Regents’ recent meeting agenda, more policy changes are on the way.
The revised rule 31003, approved unanimously last week by voice vote, establishes new grounds to close academic departments. In addition to academic reasons—such as low enrollment or poor program quality—and financial exigency, presidents can now shutter programs due to “extraordinary circumstances” that necessitate “accelerated program closure due to regulatory requirements” and bypass typical review procedures.
The revisions are an effort by the board to “improve efficiency and usability” of the rules, which the board revisits periodically. They were developed “in collaboration with stakeholders throughout the U.T. System,” the agenda states.
