[S]OUTH ROYALTON — Almost three weeks after 75 percent of tenure faculty were stripped of tenure July 1, Vermont Law School is left with a culture of fear and uncertainty.
As of Wednesday, the administration still had not told faculty, students or staff who had tenure at the school and who didn’t. The secrecy had caused confusion among students, alumni and those faculty who remained.
“People are pretty demoralized,” said professor Susan Apel.
Apel, a tenured professor who taught courses on family and gender law at VLS for 36 years, retired July 1, following a buyout agreement five years ago. She became a professor emeritus July 1, but retains an office on campus.
Some are sad professors will no longer have tenure, she said, while those who continue teaching are anxious.
“I think they’re very nervous about their own status,” said Apel. “They don’t know what could happen to them next.”
Faculty were informed they no longer had tenure in private meetings with VLS President Tom McHenry and Academic Dean Sean Nolan. In the meetings, faculty were presented options for continuing at VLS without tenure or leaving July 1.
But McHenry did not explain the decision in a memo to the Vermont Law School community Tuesday. Nor did he divulge who had tenure, citing confidentiality.
Tenured faculty who stayed were required to sign non-disclosure agreements, preventing them from speaking about the status of their positions and prohibiting them from making negative remarks about the school or administration. Some argued that the agreement violated academic freedom.
McHenry said the non-disclosure agreement was a standard contract used by many employers.
Email exchanges between faculty and administration obtained by VTDigger, demonstrate a culture of fear at Vermont Law School.
Professor Peter Teachout, the former chair of the Tenure and Retention Committee, who lost tenure July 1, urged President Tom McHenry to reconsider the non-disclosure agreement, which allows faculty to only speak with their spouses.
“Imposing this enforced yoke of silence … makes no sense at all and contributes to the pathological atmosphere of fear and secrecy that permeates the campus environment at Vermont Law School,” Teachout wrote in a June 29 email.
Anita Levy, the director of the American Association of University Professors, says the administration “grossly” departed from the association’s standards when it eliminated tenure and “the protections of academic freedom.”
Donna Young, a board member for the American Association of University Professors, encouraged officials to share a letter Levy wrote last month to the Vermont Law School’s Tenure and Retention Committee with the law school community.
Professor John Echeverria took issue with that suggested disclosure. “I think AAUP’s task is at an end,” Echeverria wrote. “I ask that you and your AAUP colleagues stand down from any more work on this matter, including any and all steps to spread the word about this matter within the academy.”
Teachout plans to stay at VLS without tenure. He said he has remained in contact with McHenry and even had a beer with him recently. Teachout urged McHenry to be transparent.
“He wants to restore a positive narrative,” said Teachout. “I said (to him) it’s really important in doing so that he be completely forthcoming and not gloss over … the decisions that were made.”
In a memo issued on Tuesday, McHenry wrote that the cuts were necessary to ensure students would receive the best education possible.
“I assure you that Vermont Law School remains committed to academic freedom and excellence, and that all of our professors — tenured, contract, and adjunct — can speak their mind and teach about what they believe,” McHenry said.
McHenry said his door was open and anyone could speak to him or even join him for weekly hikes this summer. He also planned to have weekly open house meetings.
The letter, however, didn’t allay fears at the law school.
“The students are concerned — is the law school still going to be here tomorrow?” Teachout said.
Some say the school’s reputation as the leading environmental law school in the country could be in jeopardy.
“I would have some serious questions of how it plans to deliver a quality education at this point,” said Young, a professor at Albany Law School. “The administration and board have really made a very unusual decision. I think it’s pretty unprecedented.”
Young was concerned that Vermont Law School’s actions could set a precedent for other law schools facing financial crisis. “I’m very concerned that tenure means virtually nothing right now — no one is really protected with tenure rights,” she said.
The law school could be at risk of losing its accreditation status with the American Bar Association, which requires every law school to follow principles of academic freedom and a system of tenure, Young said.
Barry Currier, a managing director of the ABA section of legal education and admissions, said the ABA council considers violations of the standards on a case-by-case basis, he said, and matters related to accreditation of a law schools are confidential.
If Vermont Law School is in violation, the ABA will investigate and could take away accreditation, said Young.
“That’s an enormous consequence,” said Young.
University of Houston Law Center professor Michael Olivas was troubled Vermont Law School never declared financial exigency, a first step in the procedures recommended by AAUP when tenure is in jeopardy.
Olivas is the former president of the Association of American Law Schools and a former board member of the American Bar Association. He is concerned about VLS’s international reputation and its ability to attract students and faculty.
“It’s a death spiral once it starts happening,” Olivas said, speaking generally. “It starts to have immediate applications — like your best faculty start looking elsewhere, your best students start looking elsewhere.”
McHenry wrote in a statement to VTDigger Tuesday evening that “The programmatic restructuring is not an attack on tenure or on academic freedom.”
He said some faculty members agreed to make voluntary commitments and salary reductions before July 1, but those voluntary offers “were not sufficient to deliver the necessary cost savings.”
He said he held open faculty meetings to solicit feedback and administration used the feedback in its decision-making process.
“I don’t think the actions we’ve taken have damaged the school’s reputation,” he said.
McHenry became president of the law school last year. He said he was aware of the financial challenges when he began and the school is now “in a much stronger financial position.”
“There’s not the slightest chance this school will close down,” he said.
Vermont Law School is not bound by AAUP standards, he said, and the letter from AAUP was merely Levy’s “opinion.”
McHenry said the school faced “tremendous” financial challenges.The administration renegotiated contracts with both tenure and non-tenure faculty and the changes will save Vermont Law School $1 million next year — about the amount of the school’s ongoing debt, he said.
The school will offer about 60 environmental law classes next year in addition to a new master’s degree in restorative justice. “We’re pleased with the results,” he said.
About 180 new JD students are expected to arrive this fall — the highest enrollment the JD program in recent years.
Rick Johnson, a 1997 graduate and a board member of the VLS Alumni Association since 2003, is confident in the school’s future. “The law school is now back on secure financial footing,” he said.
Others have doubts. Dan Richardson, an alum and former president of the Vermont Bar Association, said the change to tenure at Vermont Law School is “a risky decision.”
“When a decision like this is made, you hope that it’s been thought through thoroughly,” Richardson said.
Windsor County State’s Attorney David Cahill, a former adjunct professor at VLS, was concerned about the economic impact on the South Royalton community.
“For the people who live in Royalton and rely on the law school for their livelihood, I hope that this process leads to long-term financial health,” Cahill said.