Although budget cuts are taking place across campus in almost every department, the setbacks at UT have not led to any legal conflicts.
But, professors at a community college in California have not been so lucky.
Three faculty members from Southwestern Community College in San Diego were suspended Thursday after participating in a rally against budget cuts on campus. Due to cuts, the community college’s administration plans to curb course offerings, which sparked the protest.
Campus police are considering placing legal penalties on the protestors, including the three professors who were suspended.
Some professors at UT have also been struggling as a result of the recession.
UT Biology professor Eric Pianka said the College of Natural Sciences will be affected by budget cuts, and he expects the situation to grow much worse.
“One of our responses in biology has been to cut TAs,” Pianka said. However, he doesn’t think this is the most effective solution, as it negatively impacts the quality of teaching.
“It’s just a tough thing when you don’t have enough money to meet the growing demand,” he said.
UT journalism professor Robert Jensen said the fact that a faculty member would get suspended or fired for upholding their First Amendment rights is strange and unusual.
“It doesn’t happen very often anymore,” Jensen said. “At least at this point, protections for faculty in these areas are fairly well established.”
Jensen said he has seen tensions grow between faculty and University officials, but nothing serious has come of it.
“It’s just not the kind of problem we face these days,” he said.
While such politically charged unrest may not be openly expressed on the UT campus, hostility caused by decreasing funds is very real to English professor Andrew Rempt, one of the three faculty members suspended last week from Southwestern College.
Rempt said officials cited a California penal code pertaining to “disrupting operations of the college” in the hand-delivered suspension note. Other than that, no one from the district has spoken with him to further explain the cause of his suspension.
He said the classes they plan to cut show a lack of concern for the education of students. He said his primary concern is the students’ success, which is being disrupted by his suspension.
“They are keeping me out of my classroom,” he said. “It is a crucial point in the semester, and I can’t be there. I am forbidden. All of this is very distressing.”
Staff in the president’s office at the University were unfamiliar with any codes and regulations regarding faculty suspension.
The Provost’s office and UT legal affairs were not available for comment.
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