UT: THE EYES OF TFA ARE UPON YOU!: TENURE UNDER ATTACK AT UTMB GALVESTON

The severe cuts in tenured faculty’s base salaries at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston are a direct attack on tenure and academic freedom. When tenured faculty’s base salaries can be reduced at will by the administration, tenure is rendered meaningless.

All UT faculty should be on high alert because the UT System intends to spread plans similar to the UTMB faculty compensation plan system-wide.

The UTMB TFA Chapter is actively pursuing multiple approaches to stop the administration from succeeding in their attempt to demolish tenure.

Goals:

A fair UTMB-wide faculty compensation plan that protects academic freedom, faculty tenure and base salary.
A reversal of the proposed cuts in tenured faculty’s base salaries. (Editor's note: Progress is already being made. See the post below concerning changes to the SOM plan. Under increasing pressure, administration will now allow faculty to choose NOT to participate in this new plan for six months.)

Background

June 2006: President Stobo, following the recommendations of Navigant Consultants, announced that to ensure UTMB’s future growth, about 1,000 employees will be laid off, and cuts will be made in entity and departmental budgets.
July 2006: Faculty were told that up to 50% of base salary will be cut for almost all senior tenured faculty. Many were “encouraged” to retire.
August 2006: Under intense pressure and scrutiny from TFA and faculty, salary cuts for most, but not all, faculty limited to 10%. Administration offers faculty the choice of opting out of the new compensation plan for six months.
September 2006: FY07 memoranda of appointment and their cuts to base salary went into effect for faculty opting for new compensation plan immediately. Those choosing the delayed option face cuts on March 1, 2007.

Issues

Fall 2005, all departments at UTMB were mandated to approve a new compensation plan that was presented as a UT System-wide incentive plan. As outlined in the Dean’s letter (7/28/06), this plan was sold to us as a way to provide incentives for outstanding performance. However, the salary plan does not provide any protection for faculty, and there are no guarantees of base salary for tenured faculty.
As a result of the Navigant recommendations, the first implementation of the faculty salary plan was the complete opposite of what the faculty was told. In July 2006, letters describing salary cuts between 10-50% were sent to all faculty in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology who had less than 80% of their salary on grants (despite the departmental requirement of 45% of salary on grants). The salary cuts were not based on performance.
The removal of a protected base salary for tenured faculty uncouples the connection between secure salary compensation and tenure, and hence constitutes a threat to academic freedom.

Actions:

Faculty have formed the TFA-UTMB chapter.
An alternative faculty compensation plan that is fair and protects academic freedom is being drafted.
Some members have filed grievances using due process.
We have contacted the UTMB Faculty Senate who then presented a document outlining problems with the salary plan to Dr. Parisi (then Dean of the School of Medicine) and Dr. Stobo (President of UTMB, who has since submitted his resignation, effective August 31, 2007).
TFA leaders met with state legislators.