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Chapter claims university violated contract by awarding tenure to new fashion professor; 'superstar' funding to help pay salary
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Apr 03, 2008
The Kent State chapter of the American Association of University Professors has filed its first unfair labor practice charge in its 30-year history over the hiring of a faculty member.
The chapter says administrators ran afoul of the AAUP contract when they hired a faculty member who is not a full professor at his current university into a tenured position in the Shannon Rogers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion Design and Merchandising.
AAUP grievance chairwoman Deborah Smith said the union is ''outraged'' the university awarded tenure — in essence, lifetime employment — to Vince Quevedo, an associate professor at Oklahoma State University.
''Part of what makes us so angry is that they've sent us the message that they can pick and choose what parts of the contract to follow,'' said Smith, an associate professor of philosophy at Kent.
But Gayle Ormiston, associate provost for faculty affairs, said the university acted appropriately, as it has in the past.
He said the policy allows faculty to be hired with tenure even if they aren't full professors elsewhere.
For Quevedo, who is being hired as an associate professor, the normal timeline to get tenure at Kent would be three years, but that can be reduced if the faculty advisory committee is consulted, Ormiston said.
In this case, the faculty were consulted and the probationary period was reduced to zero.
Unlike other hires, though, the fashion advisory committee didn't want to hire Quevedo. Smith said it had turned him down two times in the past.
''This one didn't have faculty support,'' Ormiston said. ''It's advice. It's not binding.''
At the same time, the university is making ''superstar'' funding available to help pay Quevedo's $93,000 yearly salary, which is as much as twice the $46,000 to $75,000 current fashion faculty make.
Steve Michael, associate provost for diversity, said Kent State makes extra money available to hire ''rising stars'' or ''superstars'' who can help to elevate programs nationally.
He said the extra funding helps to expand the diversity of candidates, which in addition to women and African-Americans, can include white men in nontraditional fields like nursing.
''We ask, is it possible for us to be in the top 20 or top 30 in this field? If so, the best way to do that is to attract superstars,'' he said. ''We want to be strategic in the way we hire.''
In addition to his salary, Quevedo will receive a $1,000 stipend this summer to help develop the school's graduate program and $10,000 in ''startup funding'' for his artistic work.
Quevedo tried to stem the faculty unrest with an e-mail to all after he accepted the job.
''I want you to know, as a senior faculty, I have always and will continue to help and/or assist my fellow faculty to achieve their professional goals,'' he wrote. ''I think it's important to celebrate the things we have in common as well as our differences.''
He goes by the name ''Vinci'' for his design work, which features ''quilting techniques to create original fabrics with texture and depth,'' according to his Web site. The site said he is ''proud to be part of the quilting community, even though he's never quilted a traditional quilt!''
Quevedo has bachelor's and master's degrees from Southern Illinois University and a second master's degree from the University of Nebraska. He was an assistant professor at Kent from 1995 to 1998.
The chapter asked the KSU trustees and President Lester Lefton not to hire him and to give it an audience at their next meeting April 16.
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.
The Kent State chapter of the American Association of University Professors has filed its first unfair labor practice charge in its 30-year history over the hiring of a faculty member.
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