"Layoffs Without 'Financial Exigency'
March 2, 2010
March 2, 2010
One of the ultimate protections of being a tenured faculty member, historically, has been being immune from layoff in all but the most extraordinary circumstances. Under policies issued by the American Association of University Professors and largely accepted by higher education leaders, only institutions that declare 'financial exigency' -- a state so dire that it 'threatens the survival of the institution as a whole' -- can eliminate the jobs of tenured faculty members.
Given the strict criteria on when an institution can declare exigency, and the obviously unwelcome scrutiny such a declaration would bring about, institutions have hesitated to invoke that status. As a result, while institutions eliminate adjunct positions all the time, the tenured faculty member has been protected."