A freshman Democrat stunned his colleagues Thursday by helping minority Republicans advance a bill that would make it easier for public universities to fire tenured professors.
Senior Democrats complained the bill posed a naked assault on academic freedom at public universities. But Rep. Wes McKinley, D-Walsh, saw things differently and sided with Republican committee members to pass House Bill 1284 out of the House Education Committee on a 7-6 vote. It now goes to the full House.
“We need to project accountability, and I think we’ve shown there’s not accountability,” McKinley said.
That charge was made several times during the hearing about Ward Churchill, the embattled, tenured ethnic-studies professor at the University of Colorado who is awaiting the outcome of an investigation into his scholarship. The faculty committee investigating the matter announced Thursday that it hoped to deliver its report on Churchill in May.
The tenure-reform bill, sponsored by Colorado Springs Republican Rep. Keith King, calls for periodic reviews of tenure on the basis of professors’ teaching performance, student achievement, scholarly activity and community service.
“The process needs a definition from the legislature,” said King, R-Colorado Springs.
Similar reviews already happen, said professors from Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado who testified Thursday.
But King’s bill allows for the termination of tenured professors for reasons that the professors, an American Civil Liberties Union official and several Democrats said were too vague to be reasonable. It also does not specify a role for the involvement of other faculty in the tenure-review process, a marked departure from academic tradition.
King’s bill, which is supported by vocal Churchill critic Gov. Bill Owens, defines more than a dozen causes for the termination of a tenured professor. They include insubordination, misrepresentation, professional misconduct, negative peer or student review and “any other conduct that falls below minimum standards of professional integrity.” There is no provision for appeal.
Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, said he was “stunned” to see King’s bill make it out of committee.
“What are we going to hear when some conservative professor says something, upsets a student and gets fired?” he said. “I hope they’re happy with what they’ve done.”
King said he hoped to amend his bill on the House floor to address some of the concerns raised Thursday.
“There were some good points that were brought up today,” he said. “We’re going to work on this bill and make it better.”
Staff writer Jim Hughes can be reached at 303-820-1244 or jhughes@denverpost.com.
