Regents call special meeting on dismissal of professor

Jake Moore and Debra Murray

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with more details on the meeting’s location and viewing options.

The WKU Board of Regents has called a special meeting for 9 a.m on Friday, July 29 to decide on the dismissal of Jeanine Huss, a professor in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences.

According to Jace Lux, university spokesperson, the meeting will be conducted in the Academic Conference Room located in the Wetherby Administration Building. There will not be a remote viewing option. Anyone who wants to view can attend in WAB 227. 

The only action item scheduled for Friday is a dismissal for cause hearing. According to the agenda, WKU President Timothy Caboni has recommended the Board of Regents “affirm dismissal for cause of Dr. Jeanine Huss, Professor, School of Teacher Education.”

Huss, a full professor, was contacted by phone regarding the upcoming meeting but declined to comment. She arrived at WKU in 2005, and according to TopNet recently taught courses like TCHL 500: Foundations of Teacher Leadership and TCHL 560: Capstone Project for Teacher Leadership.

Lux provided the following university statement when reached for more information:

“The special called meeting of the WKU Board of Regents on July 29 will follow the procedures outlined in the 27th edition of the Faculty Handbook related to the termination of a tenured faculty member. In order to respect the integrity of this process, the university will not speak further at this time.”

The lone action item for Friday’s special meeting.

Article VII.A.2 of WKU’s faculty handbook states:  “In any case in which the President of the University has personal knowledge of information sufficient to make an informed judgment that a faculty member should be dismissed for cause, after informal notification of the faculty member involved, charges may be brought without further consultation as provided by KRS 164.360(3).”

The agenda states that an approval of dismissal is in accordance with KRS 164.360, which lays out that the board, upon the recommendation of the university president, “may remove any faculty member or employees, but no president or faculty member shall be removed except for incompetency, neglect of or refusal to perform his duty, or for immoral conduct.”

The statute states that a faculty member can not be removed until they are given 10 days’ notice in writing, “stating the nature of the charges preferred, and after an opportunity has been given him to make defense before the board by counsel or otherwise and to introduce testimony which shall be heard and determined by the board.”

After the hearing, the board will enter a closed session for “discussion that might lead to the dismissal of an individual employee.” Lux confirmed that the session is about Huss.

Co-editor-in-chief Debra Murray can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @debramurrayy.

Co-editor-in-chief Jake Moore can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Charles_JMoore.