Idaho State University has fired a veteran professor of engineering who has been engaged in a lengthy legal battle with the university, and who was suspended in August, even though a faculty appeals panel voted last week to support the professor, saying the university did not provide him with due process and lacked evidence to dismiss him. According to KIDK, a local television station, the university’s president, Arthur C. Vailas, said he had made the decision to fire the professor, Habib Sadid, “in the best interest of the institution.” Mr. Sadid, who Idaho State says has acted insubordinate and unprofessional in his bitter criticism of university actions, vowed not to give up. “I will fight this, and I will win,” he told KIDK.
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2 Responses to Idaho State U. Fires Professor Despite Faculty Panel’s Opposition
jlfuller - November 2, 2009 at 11:33 am
Public employees are hired to represent the institutions views on a given subject. They are free to express their differing understanding on events and issues but not free to subject fellow employees to personal ad hominem attacks. If the behavior continues after being counseled then other measures are required. This seems to have been the case in this instance according to published reports.
happycamper1212 - November 9, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Public employees in universities are not hired to represent the institution’s view – i.e. “the company line.” Likewise, there is no evidence for the existence of any “published reports” beyond some strongly-worded newspaper editorials and blogs sponsored by the newspaper that passed the review of editors before being printed. There’s also a full audio tape on Inside Higher Education of a meeting in which the violations are supposed to have occurred. Everyone taped behaved in about the same way. The faculty senate review panel consulted all available materials and evidence, and they made their recommendation in Sadid’s favor. After review of all available information, they found the adminisistration’s firing of this faculty member as inappropriate. Instead the review panel noted that the ISU president, Arthur Vailas, violated established protocol.