Fired TSU president taken off teaching

Texas Southern University has relieved former President Priscilla Slade of her teaching duties and started the process to revoke her tenure, campus officials said Thursday.

The university's acting president, Bobby Wilson, notified Slade of the decision this week, saying her presence in the classroom poses "an ongoing threat of disrupting the academic process."

The move comes just days after Slade, who faces felony charges related to her spending of university money for personal expenses as president, requested and received teaching assignments this semester.

In June, the university's governing board fired Slade for using school funds to buy furniture, landscaping and a security system for her house, but did not take away her tenured faculty position. Her return last week provoked immediate controversy.

"There were a lot of people who were upset that the ex-president was allowed to teach," said board Chairman J. Paul Johnson. "It has been disruptive."

Slade denies wrongdoing

Johnson said he had no role in the decision to dismiss Slade from the faculty ranks because matters of tenure should be handled by administrators and professors. Wilson, who was in Washington, D.C., to meet with lawmakers, could not be reached for comment.
Slade has denied any wrongdoing and sued the university over her firing as president, claiming breach of contract. Her attorneys did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Under the university's rules, Slade has 30 days to file a grievance to the provost, who would appoint a committee of seven faculty members to consider the case. After holding hearings, the panel would then make a recommendation to the university's president. A final decision still could be many months away.

Slade, meanwhile, will be on paid leave. Under university policy, administrators can return to the classroom at 75 percent of their administrative pay, based on a nine-month academic year for professors.

Slade's adjusted salary — $208,275 a year — makes her the highest-paid professor on campus, officials said.

The firing of a tenured professor is a rare event in academia. It has been more than two years since TSU dismissed a tenured faculty member, officials said.

"The faculty takes tenure very, very seriously," said Cary Wintz, a history professor who has served on tenure committees. "The burden of proof is on the administration."

Lifetime job

At most universities, professors with tenure have the implicit promise of a lifetime job. They cannot be dismissed, transferred or demoted, with the exception of extreme misconduct on their part or a financial emergency at the school, thus protecting scholarly work from outside pressures.
Sanders Anderson, president of TSU's faculty council, said Slade would receive an unprejudiced hearing from her colleagues. "To revoke tenure at any university is a great undertaking," Anderson said. "This faculty has demonstrated that it will be fair."

Slade earned a doctorate in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and received tenure before becoming the president of TSU in 1999.

The board fired Slade after the university's attorneys concluded that she failed to follow university policies and state laws while spending more than $260,000.

A criminal investigation later revealed more than $1.9 million spent over Slade's tenure, including artwork, club memberships, spa treatments and tickets for sporting events. If convicted, Slade faces the possibility of life in prison.