Emporia State’s administration will not be participating in an upcoming investigation from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), according to an Oct. 24 letter from University President Ken Hush.

The AAUP is a nonprofit organization that “advance(s) the rights of academics” and develops the standards and procedures that maintain academic freedom in American universities and colleges, according to its website.

The AAUP recently announced the investigation into the process by which ESU dismissed 33 faculty and staff in September. Hush’s letter said ESU’s administration will not participate in this investigation because the university is “actively involved in, and duly respects” the ongoing appeals process available through the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) for the dismissed faculty.

The Workforce Management Framework that ESU used to dismiss the faculty gives employees 30 days from notice of termination to submit an appeal. It then gives Hush 30 days to respond to the appeal and KBOR 10 days after that to refer to their Office of Administrative Hearings, which will provide a hearing.

“An employee who wins their appeal will be entitled to reinstatement, back pay and restoration of other lost benefits,” the Framework states. 

Hush and KBOR’s respective roles in the appeals process will conclude by Nov. 24, according to the AAUP’s Oct. 26 letter in response. The Oct. 25 letter stated the newly appointed investigating committee will be conducting its interviews in early December.

In his Oct. 24 letter, Hush said he was “disappointed” that his previous explanations and the “abundance” of publicly available information have not alleviated the AAUP’s concerns, adding that he remains confident in the “legitimacy and appropriateness” of ESU’s actions.

Gwen Larson, director of media relations at ESU, declined to comment beyond providing Hush’s Oct. 24 letter. 

Michael DeCesare, the senior program officer in the AAUP department of academic freedom, tenure and governance, told The Bulletin that this is not the first time a university’s administration has declined participation, which typically means declining interviews with the investigating committee. 

Participation is entirely voluntary and ESU not participating won’t have an affect on the investigation or the creation of the final report, according to DeCesare, who added that the AAUP “far prefer(s)” that administrative officers and board members take the opportunity to “elaborate on their position.”

If ESU’s administration reconsiders participation, the investigating committee will work with them, according to the AAUP’s Oct. 26 letter.

“We’re confident that the committee will still be able to reach conclusions based on all of the available evidence, even if it doesn’t include a couple of interviews with administrative officers and board members,” DeCesare said.

The investigating committee will review documents provided by the nine dismissed ESU faculty complainants, AAUP policy documents, news stories and public communication from the administration. Then, they will conduct interviews to “fill in the rest of the story,” DeCesare said.

The AAUP announced the three members of the investigating committee in their Oct. 26 letter to ESU:

• Nicholas Fleisher, professor of linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

• Matthew Boedy, professor of English for the University of North Georgia

• Julia Scheck, professor of English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln