Montana labor news., 1939-11-23
HEAD
REPLIES TO LETTER
OF SEN. WHEELER
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Missoula
November 13. 1899.

MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Missoula
November Is, 1889.
The Honorable B. K. Wheeler,
United States Senator.
Washington, D. c.
My dear Senator Wheeler:
I am sorry that pressure of other
urgent matters in getting the fall
quarters work under way properly
has made it impossible for me soon
er to answer your inquiry with re-
spect to the action of the State
Board of Education in the matter
of five members of the faculty of
Montana State University.
Apparently you r under a mis-
apprehension as to the situation,
since no faculty members have been
dismissed by me or by the State
Board of Education; there has been
no decision to dismiss anyone, nor
can we say what action will be
taken by the State Board on a later
hearing Of charges to be submitted.
Actually the State Board has been
in much closer touch than usual
with the needs and problems of the
University, particularly during the
past year. A committee of the
Board spent several days on the
campus in early spring, then re-
turned for further study and in
vestigations during the summer, and
followed its deliberations with a
formal report at the regular quar-
terly meeting of the Board in Hell
ena on September II.
Particularly, the committee spent
several days here in early July, at
which time a small group of faculty
members submitted directly to the
Board members a brief in which
such faculty members asked the
Board itself to take action in the
matter of certain faculty and ad-
ministrative problems. After con-
sidering the testimony and evidence
at considerable length, the Board
committee and the State Board, in
their efforts to improve faculty eff
cheney and cooperation, in effect. in
dicted five members of the faculty.
We r attaching hereto a copy of
the State Board committees report,
which was adopted almost unani-
mously by Board members present
Attorney General Freebourn dis
senting.
DR.. N. J. Lennes was notified by
the Board that his services would
no longer be needed after the close
of the present academic year, that
since he had passed the basic retire
ment age specified in State Board
regulations he would be retired at
the end of this year of service. He
is eligible and will continue eligible
for membership in the Montana
Teachers Retirement System, and
can continue to develop and edit the
mathematical textbooks which have
occupied such a large part of his
time during recent years.
To the other four men whose
names were considered, the State
Board of Education sent notification
that charges would later be fur
nished them and a full and formal
hearing given them, unless they
wished to take advantage of the
alternative of resigning, in which
case designations should be submit
ted by October Is. By State Board
resolution the four men so charged
would have at least sixty days after
the submission of charges within
which TO prepare for the hearing be-
fore the Board. All of the men ex-
cept Mr.. Keeney (whose inefficien-
cy has been under consideration for
several years. were likewise mott
fled that they could continue to
teach and draw their salaries for
the coming academic year, provided
they wished to resign as of next
September l, thus giving them an
income for the year and assured
employment while they were
making their plans for the next fol-
lowing year.
Professor H. G. Merriam rendered
his resignation as of October l, 1899,
and went to the Department of
English at the University of Oregon
to accept a professorship which he