They’re not going down without a fight.

Back in August, Ashland University announced that they would be cutting faculty that had tenure. Of the tenured faculty members that were cut, 10 of them, according to Interim Provost Doug Fiore, are appealing the decision to try and keep their jobs.

“This is for tenured faculty members,” said Jeff Sikkenga, the president of the faculty senate. “The process does not apply to folks who are not on tenured track or folks who are on tenured tracks but have not yet gotten tenure.”

The appeals process is one that has many steps.

“They ask for a conference, that’s the first step,” said Sikkenga. “They meet with the provost, the dean of their college, the chair of their department and they have the right to bring a witness.”

During these meetings, the faculty member is informed by the administration on why they were chosen to be cut. Once the meeting has concluded, they then have the right to appeal.

“The next stage is an appeals hearing,” Sikkenga said. “It’s is in front of the faculty senate’s Professional Standards and Responsibility Committee (PSRC).”

The chairs of the PSRC, Dr. Rowland Blackley and Dr. Linda Joyce Brown, both declined to comment. The role the PSRC plays in the appeals process is significant.

“So the way the process works, their hearings are all two hours in length maximum,” said Fiore. “What PSRC has determined is that they would like the faculty member (and) the appellant approximately 20 minutes to state their case.”

The PSRC will record their findings on the appeals and send them to the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees will then review the findings from the PSRC and give their decision. The board, according to the faculty rules and regulations, has final decision on what happens.

While Sikkenga is confident that the PSRC will operate in a fair manner, he is concerned about some aspects of the process that appear to be unfair.

“It’s something that the faculty senate and the faculty senate executive committee have worked as hard as we can to ensure,” said Sikkenga. “I have absolute confidence in the fairness of the professional standards and responsibility committee.”

Sikkenga offered more thoughts on the process in an email to The Collegian later. 

“Having confidence in the fairness of PSRC is not the same thing as agreeing that the entire process is fair,” he wrote. “I think that there are unfair aspects of the process that have nothing to do with PSRC being a fair adjudicator.

Fiore said he thinks the process is “very fair.”

“I never thought I would be involved in a situation like this,” Fiore said. “In fact I think, and this is my opinion, that those who created the rules and regulations document probably never figured this would happen.”

Fiore does acknowledge that it is not a perfect situation.

“What I don’t feel good about is the hearings themselves. That’s not anybody’s fault, but you can imagine what the tone is, what the climate is,” said Fiore. “To have to sit in the room and have these hard discussions, while it’s absolutely important and I think it’s going well, it’s also heartbreaking.”

Fiore says it is difficult for him and the administration to have to go through these appeals.

“This is the hardest professional thing that I’ve ever been through. I really, really feel for the faculty members who have been affected. I do believe the administration took the necessary and appropriate action. I regret that it had to happen. Hopefully when this is over, the institution will build in a very positive direction.”

Right now, three hearings have already been held. The remaining seven appeals will be heard over the next two weeks.

Once the Board of Trustees has the findings of the PSRC, they will most likely take it up at their next meeting.

Editor’s Note: A quote from Faculty Senate President Jeff Sikkenga was clarified at 4:44 p.m. after the story was originally published. The spelling of his last name was also corrected.