The Chronicle of Higher Education

Some of the provisions in Mr. Er-
ickson’s contract appear very much
informed by recent events at Penn
Mr. Erickson’s contract also
states that he can be terminated
for cause if he is indicted for any
felony. Of the eight counts that Mr.
Spanier faces, five are felonies.

Mr. Erickson’s contract goes on to specify that he can no longer work at the university if he is fired for cause. Applied to Mr. Spanier, that provision alone would save Penn State his salary of $600,000 a year as a professor in the department of human development and family studies.

It is often controversial, but not uncommon, for a president to be fired or resign under pressure, only to move on to a high-paying professorship. Richard H. Herman resigned as chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009 and now earns $212,000 a year as a professor there. He is on the campus about once a week and does little teaching compared with his colleagues, the Chicago Tribune reports.

As Mr. Spanier’s legal battle con-
tinues, the question of his status as
a tenured professor lingers. Larry
“Whether or not, in addition to
being fired as president, his con-
duct merits action on his tenure
status really should be left to the
procedures Penn State has devel-
oped over the last 50 or 60 years,”
Mr. Backer says.

For a tenured faculty member to be dismissed, Penn State’s policy manual states, he or she must be given written notice from an administrator “within a reasonable time” after the occurrence of events that might give rise to termination. As of now, it appears, no such notice has been given to Mr. Spanier. But university officials will not confirm that. “These are personnel decisions that are, for the time being, considered confidential,” Ms. Powers wrote in an e-mail.

Adequate cause for removing a
tenured faculty member at Penn
State includes “moral turpitude,”
“grave misconduct,” and “lack of
competence or failure to perform.”
Mr. Backer says there is a “sharp
split” on the issue among faculty,
“Spanier really hasn’t had his day
to say his piece,” Mr. Backer says.