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(revised 05/17/2013 board meeting)
12.1.0 Introduction
The board of trustees by law has ultimate responsibility for all programs of the college, including the academic programs and departments. (See Article VII of the Articles of Incorporation and Article I and Article XI of the By-laws of Simpson College.) By tradition and practice, the faculty of the college have “primary responsibility for determining the academic policies of the college.” (See Article III of the Faculty Constitution .) As indicated in Article XI of the Simpson College Bylaws, the faculty and the administration “cooperate” with each other in making educational policies, requirements, courses of study, etc.
12.2.0 Discontinuance of Academic Programs and Majors in Conditions Other Than Financial Threat or Exigency
Academic programs and academic majors are added and deleted from the offerings of the college by vote of the faculty. At the same time, the administration of the college is responsible for providing resources for all programs of the college and the hiring of faculty. Working together through its various committees, the faculty and the administration determine funding levels for the college’s various academic programs.
From time to time, the administration of the college may seek to eliminate an academic program, an academic major or an academic department for the purpose of reducing costs or reallocating resources outside of the conditions outlined in the Simpson College Faculty Handbook Part II: Personnel Policies, Section 12.3.0. As the AAUP suggests in its policy statement on the matter, such decisions should be “based essentially on educational considerations” and “must reflect long-range judgments that the educational mission of the institution as a whole will be enhanced by the discontinuance.” (See AAUP Recommended Institutional Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure.) Should this be the case, administration will follow the procedures outlined in the Simpson College Faculty Handbook Part III: Personnel Procedures, Section 13.1.0 .
12.3.0 Institutional Retrenchment Under Conditions of Financial Threat and/or Financial Exigency
12.3.1 Retrenchment
Retrenchment is a term used by the college to describe a need to significantly reduce expenditures in a given area or college-wide outside of the normal reshaping of the offerings of the college as described in the Simpson College Faculty Handbook, Part II: Personnel Policies, Section 12.2.0. It is a condition that by definition is temporary and as such has a beginning and end date. A period of retrenchment is formally declared and ended by the president of the college.
The board of trustees, through its own deliberations and recommendations by the president, reserves the right and assumes the responsibility to make decisions about retrenchment necessary to preserve the minimal requirements for the maintenance of institutional excellence and financial stability. Reductions in expenditures, including those in faculty or staff, may be necessary due to a serious financial threat to the college, resulting from financial reversals and observable or anticipated deficits. Such a condition may necessitate reductions in academic departments or programs and/or elimination of supporting administrative positions.
12.3.2 Financial Threat
A financial threat to the college may arise in a given academic year or emerge as an anticipated condition in the near future.
An existing or anticipated threat to the financial stability of an institution is defined as the presence of, or anticipation of, a significant budget deficit concluded to extend longer in length than the period of a single budget year. Such a threat may arise from continued and anticipated enrollment decline, serious reversals in endowment income, or the impact of serious budget reversals brought on by factors beyond the control of the college or its administration.
The conditions of financial threat are to be distinguished from those of a single year budget imbalance brought about by a temporary drop in student enrollment, cyclical market reversals affecting endowment income, unanticipated expenditures in a given year or a temporary reduction of annual gift income.
In her or his position as the chief administrative officer of the college, the president has the responsibility to initiate discussions with the proper faculty committees, responsible administrative personnel, and appropriate committee or committees of the board of trustees, if he/she believes a financial threat exists.
The procedures to be used in the case of retrenchment under conditions of financial threat can be found in the Simpson College Faculty Handbook, Part III: Personnel Procedures, Section 13.2.1 .
12.3.3 Financial Exigency
Financial exigency is defined by AAUP as “.an immediate financial crisis that threatens the survival of the institutions as a whole.” (See AAUP, Recommended Institutional Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure.) It differs from “financial threat” in its immediacy and scope. A financial threat may be built over time due to low enrollment, misjudgments, decrease in fundraising or other changing environmental conditions. A financial exigency is more likely to come about due to a cataclysmic event, i.e. a natural disaster, political disturbance or sustained period of financial loss.
The procedures to be used in the case of retrenchment under conditions of financial threat and/or exigency can be found in the Simpson College Faculty Handbook, Part III: Personnel Procedures, Section 13.2.0 .
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