Last fall Vermont Law School began a process of programmatic restructuring which would allow the school to compete in today’s law school environment and thrive going forward. This followed several years of cost-cutting measures in response to a national decline in law school applications and enrollment, financial challenges that institutions of higher education across the country continue to face. This process was difficult and resulted in the restructuring of faculty positions, including tenured faculty. VLS retained fifteen tenured and long-term contract faculty -- which the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) treats as equivalent to tenure -- after the restructuring.
Earlier today, the AAUP issued a press release announcing an investigation into the governance aspects our recent restructuring. The AAUP is a faculty advocacy organization. It is not an accrediting body, and Vermont Law School is not an affiliated member. However, VLS fully embraces the AAUP’s commitment to academic freedom and tenure. VLS has been in regular contact with our accrediting agencies and we do not anticipate any issues with our accreditation.
VLS welcomes the scrutiny of the AAUP and looks forward to correcting any misimpressions and addressing any concerns that the AAUP may have. VLS held AAUP principles and guidelines in mind throughout the process and followed them in a manner consistent with our status as a small independent law school, not affiliated with a university.
By way of background, the school has aggressively pursued a variety of cost-cutting measures over the past five years, including reductions in administrative staffing, retirement and other benefits and salary freezes. In 2012, VLS also offered all eligible faculty a voluntary buyout package. The faculty was informed of the school’s financial challenges in October 2017, and was kept engaged by the Administration and by the faculty-elected Dean’s Advisory Committee (DAC) throughout the last fiscal year (FY18). Special faculty meetings devoted to the budget issues were held monthly and the DAC held its own set of open meetings, as well as office hours to obtain individual faculty input. All faculty were encouraged to attend meetings in person and by phone if necessary or to schedule individual follow-up meetings.
Before a course leading to involuntary cuts was pursued, faculty members were provided the opportunity to make voluntary alterations to their status, such as reducing their course loads or transitioning to part-time status at reduced salaries. Unfortunately, the number of faculty who expressed an interest in that approach was few, and well below the number needed to close the budget gap.
Input from the faculty was solicited on numerous occasions. Considerable care was taken to develop objective and consistent criteria on which individual restructuring decisions would be made, incorporating faculty input. The initial criteria were developed by the faculty-elected DAC after that committee solicited input from the faculty, and were based on standards in the Faculty Handbook and additional criteria suggested by the faculty. Decisions about affected faculty members, including tenured, tenure-track, long-term, short-term contract, and grant-funded, were made in light of the programmatic needs and budgetary constraints.
We are confident that the restructuring steps taken at VLS to achieve a balanced budget and a sustainable financial model were necessary, appropriate, and consistent with AAUP guidelines. Our focus is, and always has been, providing our students with an outstanding law and policy education, maintaining the nation’s top environmental law program, and retaining our overall commitment to environmental and social justice.