Opinion ID: 569324
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Was Due Process Satisfied?

Text: 33 After considering the interests noted above, we conclude that (1) the summary judgment evidence establishes that due process was satisfied with respect to the program-elimination decisions; and (2) material issues of fact remain on the question whether due process was satisfied with respect to the individual termination decisions.
34 While the appellants' interest implicated by the program-elimination decisions is significant, the paramount importance to UTD of pursuing its academic mission as it deems best and the minimal risk of error lead us to conclude that only the barest procedural protections of notice and an opportunity to be heard need be afforded the individual faculty member. UTD met and exceeded that standard in this case. Appellants were given twenty-months notice that the programs were to be phased out, and were repeatedly invited to meet with their respective deans, Vice President Clark, or President Rutford to discuss the facts that were considered in reaching [the] decision[s] and ... to demonstrate that those facts were in error. That is all that due process requires. 35 Even if the Fourteenth Amendment does require some predecision, as distinct from pretermination, process--though we do not believe it does--it was satisfied in this case. The summary judgment record establishes that the faculty in both programs were at least on constructive or inquiry notice that the programs were being considered for termination. The TERC report recommending that the Special Education program be eliminated was issued four years before that recommendation was implemented. Dean Dunn made his initial recommendation to eliminate Environmental Sciences three years before that program was eliminated. There is no evidence that any of this predecision activity was covert or surreptitious, and there is substantial evidence that it was in fact notorious. The notice element was thus satisfied. 36 Furthermore, we believe the faculty's right to be heard was satisfied by the opportunity to participate in a meaningful fashion in the decision-making process; that is, the faculty, though it lacked any decision-making authority, had the opportunity to contribute to the decision-making process and to have its contributions fairly considered. With respect to the Special Education program, the record demonstrates that Dean Tighe and Professor Fair submitted written objections to the TERC report on behalf of the Special Education faculty, and Dean Tighe submitted written objections on behalf of the faculty to the CTE Subcommittee report. With respect to the Environmental Sciences program, the record indicates that Dean Dunn discussed the program's bleak future in numerous meetings with appellant Professor Cale, head of the Environmental Sciences faculty, and with the whole faculty on at least two occasions, both prior to and after recommending the program's termination. Indeed, Professor Cale wrote a memorandum to Dean Dunn asserting factual data that he believed indicated the program's revival. The faculty was given a meaningful opportunity to be heard.
37 The combined weight of the appellants' private interest and the greater possibility of an erroneous termination lead us to conclude that due process required more of UTD with respect to President Rutford's decision to terminate individual faculty members. Because UTD faculty are tenured to the institution, each appellant was entitled to a meaningful opportunity to demonstrate that, even if his or her program was to be discontinued and the number of faculty positions associated with that program eliminated, he or she should nevertheless be retained to teach in a field in which he or she is qualified. 38 We do not believe affording faculty such an opportunity would unduly interfere with the university's interest in academic freedom. A procedure ensuring that (1) an instructor was not terminated for constitutionally impermissible reasons, (2) the administration's actions were taken in good faith, and (3) objective criteria were employed and fairly applied in determining whom, from among the faculty at large, to terminate, is all that the Fourteenth Amendment requires. 24 39 Because only the last is in issue in this case, the procedure UTD employed might have been very simple indeed. Initially, the administration probably need only consider, in good faith, a written submission from each affected faculty member setting out why he or she deserves to be retained. Only if a particular faculty member makes a colorable showing that, under the objective criteria the university employs, he or she deserves to be retained in another academic program, must any sort of hearing be offered. Otherwise, a brief written statement from the decision maker of the reasons why the faculty member does not deserve to be retained would suffice. The hearing offered need only be an opportunity for the aggrieved faculty member to meet with the ultimate decision maker, to present his or her case orally, and to explore with the decision maker the possible alternatives to termination. If the decision maker nevertheless decides not to retain the faculty member, a written statement of reasons is required. Of course, if the retention of one faculty member results in the displacement of another, the displaced faculty member is equally entitled to due process. 40 Appellants argue that no procedure would be adequate unless (1) the hearing was conducted before a decision maker other than the university official responsible for the initial termination decision, and (2) the aggrieved faculty member is afforded the right to the presence of counsel, to cross-examine adverse witnesses, to present documentary and testimonial evidence, and to have a written record of the proceedings made. For the most part, we disagree. 41 [A] fair tribunal is a basic requirement of due process. 25 Nevertheless, the federal courts have not been overly concerned with the identity of the hearing decision maker in academic-termination cases. Contrary to appellants' argument, a due process hearing is not rendered constitutionally inadequate solely because university administrators are asked to review their own decisions. This court has specifically decline[d] to establish a per se rule that would disqualify administrative hearing bodies ... from hearing internal university matters solely for the reason that ... some of [the members] participated in the initial investigation of the incident and initiation of the cause under consideration. 26 Rather, [a]lleged prejudice must be based on more than mere speculation and tenuous inferences, 27 and the burden of proving bias is on the complainant. 28 42 The Ninth Circuit stated a similar standard in Bignall v. North Idaho College, 29 noting that in the academic context courts have balanced the need for an objective decision-maker against the costs of employing outside people, administrative efficiency and the body's having some expertise in institutional structure. 30 The hearing board in Bignall was the college Board of Trustees, which had ordered the cut [in faculty] and ... was concerned with the financial operation of the college. Where the appellant gave the court no facts which show the prejudice of th[e] Board, 31 prejudice would not be presumed. This view is supported in principle by a number of Supreme Court decisions, 32 and we see no need to depart from it here. Absent affirmative evidence of bias, the official responsible for the original termination decision may conduct the hearing on whether to retain a given faculty member. 43 With respect to appellants' second argument, we have found no case directly addressing the degree of formality required by the Constitution in this or closely analogous situations. In most faculty-termination cases, the aggrieved instructor was afforded a relatively formal procedure as a matter of state law or institutional policy. We believe that the due process clause, of its force, requires little formality. 44 The rights to counsel and to confront adverse witnesses would little aid the truth-seeking process in this context, wherein the decision to terminate faculty positions is incident to the decision to terminate an entire academic program--a decision that, in the words of Justice Rehnquist, bear[s] little resemblance to ... judicial and administrative fact-finding. 33 Quite simply, we see no need to test in an adversary fashion the veracity of witnesses or the reliability of evidence relied upon to make such a decision, and doing so would unduly disrupt the academic decision-making process. And because oral testimony would play no role or but a minimal role in such proceedings, a written record or its equivalent would be of little value. 45 On the other hand, we agree with appellants that the hearing process might greatly be aided, and the institutional interests in autonomy and economy not greatly disserved, by allowing faculty to offer documentary evidence in support of their cause and by requiring hearing officer(s) to issue written conclusions. Both practices would greatly encourage fundamental fairness and informed decision-making, and would aid in judicial review when a faculty member challenges the substance or procedure of a particular decision. 46 There is no evidence in the record that each individual appellant was afforded a meaningful opportunity to argue that he or she should be retained in spite of the elimination of the academic program in which he or she taught. Accordingly, summary judgment on this issue was inappropriate. 47