At times Seattle Pacific University or individual faculty members may find it necessary to sever their contractual relationship. To protect the interests of both parties, policies and procedures related to each category of separation are set forth. All separating faculty are required to arrange for an exit interview with the Office of Human Resources to receive information about continuation of benefits, to make arrangements for clearing any outstanding debts to the University, and to make arrangements for receiving the final paycheck. All University property, including keys, must be returned to the appropriate office before the exit interview.

Faculty planning to retire from the University shall notify their dean, in writing, no later than December 15 of their final year. For information regarding retirement benefits and process, please contact the Office of Human Resources.

The decision not to reappoint an untenured faculty member is made at the sole discretion of the President. The President shall act on recommendation of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Faculty Status Committee will be informed of non-reappointment decisions for non-tenured faculty who are on tenure track (Section 2.2.1).

Notification of non-reappointment of faculty shall be made by the University no later than March 1 of the first year of employment, and thereafter no later than December 15 of the terminal academic year.

Faculty contracted under provisions of externally funded grants shall be notified of employment status for the following contract term within 15 business days of the University's receiving grant award notification, or no later than March 1 (for faculty in their first year of full-time employment), or December 15 (for faculty in their second or subsequent consecutive year of full-time employment), whichever is later. Such term contracts/letters of appointment will include notation that the employment is subject to grant support, the source of external funding, and the anticipated grant renewal date(s) (Section 2.1).

Since a notice of non-reappointment is not a dismissal for cause, it is not necessary for the University to set forth its reasons. In courtesy to the faculty member the Vice President for Academic Affairs may choose to provide reasons for the decision.

Any faculty member who believes the non-reappointment was unlawfully discriminatory may commence a grievance in accordance with procedures established in Section 16 of this Handbook. The burden of proof in such case shall be on the faculty member.

A tenured faculty member who for medical reasons is unable to perform all or a substantial part of regular duties for a period of more than six months may request a leave of absence without pay for up to one year at a time. The official form to apply for leave of absence is available through the Office of Human Resources. Renewal of the leave of absence, if granted, is not automatic and must be supported by current medical evidence. An individual who returns to regular duties after such a leave of absence continues in a tenured relationship with the University.

Termination of an appointment with tenure, or of any other appointment before the end of the appointment period, for medical reasons, will be based on evidence that it is more probable than not that the faculty member is and will be unable to perform the normal duties of the appointment because of ill health despite reasonable accommodation. Any decision to terminate under these provisions shall be reached only after appropriate consultation, and after the faculty member has been informed of the basis of the proposed action and has been afforded an opportunity to respond to the evidence. If the faculty member so requests, the evidence will be reviewed by the Faculty Status Committee before the President makes a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. A faculty member whose appointment is terminated under this provision shall receive severance salary in accord with the current policy on disability payments and insurance.

Layoff is a severance action by which the University terminates the continuous or notice contract of a faculty member before the term of appointment expires, without prejudice as to the individual's performance. Faculty laid off under these provisions shall have preference in rehiring according to procedures detailed in Section 8.5.4. Reasons for layoff are:

1. discontinuation of program or significant portions of a discipline's offerings (Section 8.5.1),
2. enrollment emergency (Section 8.5.2), and
3. financial exigency (Section 8.5.3).

Significant curtailment of a program or a discipline. Termination of a faculty member's appointment may occur as a result of extensive change, including discontinuation of a curricular requirement, an academic program, or a discipline in whole or in large part. Decisions to make such extensive change are made by the President, after considering recommendations from the school, the dean, the Graduate or the Undergraduate Policies and Evaluation Committee, whichever is appropriate, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The appropriate Policies and Evaluation Committee, before recommending to the President, shall schedule at least one open meeting to which all members of the faculty are invited not less than five calendar days in advance. If the appropriate Policiess and Evaluation Committee's or the Academic Affair's recommendation differs substantially from the school's recommendation, or the President's decision will differ substantially from the school's or the committee's recommendation, the recommending body(ies) will be informed of the expected change and allowed five working days to provide additional evidence before the recommendation is forwarded or the final decision announced. Individual layoff decisions resulting from such changes will follow the general procedures and order of layoff specified in Sections 8.5.4 and 8.5.5.2.

Faculty laid off as a result of curricular change will receive notice according to the schedule in Section 8.3. or, if tenured, a minimum of 12 months before termination. The University will effect such change and end the faculty member's relationship with the University, when necessary, at the end of an academic year.

Faculty whose appointments are terminated pursuant to this Section have the rights delineated in Section 8.5.8.

Enrollment emergency is a sudden or unplanned, University-wide decline in student enrollment, the detrimental financial effects of which are too great or too rapid to be offset by normal procedures outlined in this Handbook. If such a decline occurs, the President, after consultation with the Faculty Budget Committee and the Faculty Council, Dean’s Cabinet and the Dean’s Budget Committee, and with the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, shall declare a state of enrollment emergency to the University.

Financial exigency is a serious institutional crisis presenting a critical, urgent need for the University to reorder its current fund monetary expenditures when it is unable otherwise to meet projected annual monetary expenditures with sufficient revenue. If the President believes that financial exigency exists, after consultation with the Faculty Budget Committee, the Faculty Council, and Dean’s Cabinet, the President shall recommend a declaration of financial exigency to the Board of Trustees. Upon recommendation of the President, the Board of Trustees shall decide whether the financial crisis meets the criteria and whether a financial exigency should be declared.

Subsequently, the faculty shall be represented in administrative processes relating to program reorganization, or curtailment or termination of instructional programs, because of financial exigency, through the Graduate and Undergraduate Policies and Evaluation Committees and the Faculty Status Committee. Faculty shall not, however, necessarily be represented in individual personnel decisions; the President and the Board of Trustees shall have final authority in all matters related to financial exigency.

Once a state of enrollment emergency or financial exigency has been declared, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, in consultation with the deans and the Graduate and Undergraduate Policies and Evaluation Committees, shall recommend action to the President. The President shall then recommend action to the Board of Trustees for their approval. Such action may be to eliminate some disciplines or programs in whole or in part, or to distribute layoffs throughout the faculty so as to prevent the elimination of any program or discipline.

Tenured faculty who are laid off shall be offered alternative positions in the University if there are openings for which they are qualified. If a ranked faculty member is laid off because of major program change, enrollment emergency or financial exigency, the position will not be filled within a period of three years from termination unless the terminated faculty member has been offered reappointment under conditions comparable to those held at the time of layoff, and has been given 90 days after written notice of the offer of reappointment within which to accept the reappointment in writing. The laid off faculty member is responsible to keep the University informed of his/her current address for the purpose of this section, and notice sent to the address by the University shall be presumed received if sent by certified mail, postage prepaid. Any individual who is offered a position under this provision, and who declines the offer or fails to respond within the 90-day period, shall be removed from the reappointment list and shall lose all rights under this provision.

Once the decision for major change, enrollment emergency, or financial exigency has been made, and specific disciplines or programs have been identified, the following procedures shall be followed:

1. Term contract faculty within the program or discipline shall be terminated first, except as necessary to avoid serious distortion of program integrity,
2. Faculty serving under notice contract shall be considered for termination in order of seniority and program integrity,
3. Tenured faculty shall be considered for termination in order of rank, seniority and program integrity. No tenured faculty member's appointment shall be terminated in favor of retaining a faculty member without tenure, except in extraordinary circumstances where a serious distortion of the academic program would otherwise result. A finding of extraordinary circumstances will be made by the Vice President for Academic Affairs only after consultation with the dean, the appropriate Policies and Evaluation Committee(s), and the Faculty Status Committee,
4. The Vice President for Academic Affairs shall provide the committees and interested parties with appropriate documentation supporting program integrity as well as rank and seniority.

When layoff is necessary following provisions of Section 8.5, layoff of specific faculty members shall be recommended by the Vice President for Academic Affairs after consultation with the school dean and the Faculty Status Committee. The Vice President for Academic Affairs recommends to the President, who is responsible for the final decision.

In the case of financial exigency where short notices and effective action are necessary, the following procedures shall be observed:

1. Faculty Affairs Committee and the Vice President for Academic Affairs may advise the President to hold all contracts until May 31, and to serve notice to non-tenured faculty on nonrenewal of contracts, pending a final decision on the seriousness of the financial exigency.
2. Tenured faculty will receive one year's notice from the date of official decision by the Board of Trustees. Other faculty will complete the academic quarter in progress on the date of the decision by the Board of Trustees.
3. The University shall make a demonstrated effort to assist displaced tenured faculty in finding other employment.

Any faculty member who receives notice of layoff has the right to appeal through grievance (Section 16). The issue of such grievance shall be confined to procedural issues, including adequacy of sources of data and alleged violations of provisions of this Section (8). The layoff will not be delayed in the case that the grievance is not settled by the effective date, nor will the grievance procedure be interrupted or denied because of the layoff.

Dismissal for Cause is a severance action by which Seattle Pacific University terminates its contract with the faculty member for just cause. Any individual contract is subject to action under this Section. Dismissal for Cause must be directly related to the fitness of a faculty member to continue as a teacher at the University, and shall not be used to restrain faculty members in their exercise of academic freedom.

Unless the faculty member agrees that dismissal is appropriate and resigns, dismissal of a faculty member with tenure, or a person on special or probationary appointment before the end of the term or notice period, shall be preceded by:

1. discussions between the faculty member and appropriate administrative officers looking toward a mutual settlement (Section 8.8),
2. informal inquiry by the Faculty Status Committee which may, failing to effect an adjustment, determine whether in its opinion dismissal proceedings should be undertaken, without its opinions being binding upon the President, and
3. a statement of charges, framed with particularity and referring to the grounds listed in Section 8.6.2, by the President or the President's designee.

In any case involving dismissal for cause, the burden of proof is defined as more probable than not. The burden of proof that just cause exists shall be on the University. Proof of cause shall be by the record considered as a whole. Dismissal proceedings may be instituted on the following grounds:

1. failure to demonstrate, by way of the review processes detailed in Section 5, conformance to the University's standard of professional competence,
2. continued neglect of academic duties despite oral and written warnings,
3. serious personal misconduct,
4. deliberate and serious violation of the rights and/or freedom of fellow faculty members, administrators, or students,
5. conviction of a felony,
6. serious failure to follow the professional ethics of one's own discipline,
7. falsification of credentials and/or experience,
8. failure to follow standards of the University as described in this Handbook after oral and written warnings,
9. failure to follow standards of the University regarding harassment, discrimination, or behavior as specified in Sections 9.5, 9.6, 9.7, 9.8, or 12.8, and
10. behavior inconsistent with the Christian mission of the University.

Once the President has determined that cause for dismissal may exist, and has framed the charges as required by Section 8.6.1, the President or the President's designee shall send a statement of intent to dismiss the faculty member, together with the statement of charges, to the faculty member and to the Faculty Status Committee. Because of the nature of dismissal, no fixed time can be specified for notice; however, such action is usually not taken without prior discussion with and written warning to the faculty member.

Any member of the Faculty Status Committee who is disqualified by bias or interest shall withdraw from the case. The remaining members of the Faculty Status Committee shall review the charges and may, at their discretion, consult with the President and/or the faculty member before delivering their recommendation to the President. The President shall decide whether or not to accept the recommendation of the Faculty Status Committee and shall inform the faculty member and the Faculty Status Committee either that the proceeding has been completed favorably, or that the faculty member is dismissed for cause, or that other sanctions have been applied. If the President's decision differs substantially from the recommendation of the Faculty Status Committee, the President shall inform the Committee of the nature of the deviation and the reasons for the deviation. This explanation shall be available to all parties as evidence in any subsequent hearing or grievance on the same charge.

Until the final decision has been reached, the faculty member will not be suspended or assigned to alternative duties unless direct harm to the individual faculty member or to others is, in the President's opinion, threatened by continuation in normal duties. If a decision to suspend is made salary will continue during the period of suspension.

Under some circumstances, for the reasons cited in Section 8.6.2, the President may elect to impose a disciplinary action short of dismissal, such as temporary suspension without pay and/or withdrawal of faculty privilege. The President may consult with Faculty Status Committee to receive non-binding advice. In unusual circumstances, the President may take disciplinary action without previous citation or warning.

A faculty member may be suspended temporarily when the President has probable cause to believe that the faculty member's continued presence at the University is highly likely to pose direct threat of harm to the University or individual members of the University community. Such suspension shall be with pay and shall last only so long as the threat of harm continues or until dismissal for cause occurs.

As a part of the mutual commitment of faculty and University to redemptive action, when annual or special evaluation or other evaluative process leads to questions of competence or neglect of duties, the faculty member involved will be contacted in writing by the administrative officer responsible for the evaluation describing the alleged problem; describing the nature of corrective action which, in the opinion of the administrative officer, will alleviate the problem; and stipulating a period of time within which the problem must be corrected. If the problem seems serious enough to warrant consideration of dismissal, the Vice President for Academic Affairs will warn the faculty member in writing that the faculty member's contract status is in jeopardy, and will stipulate a time at which the record will be re-examined to determine whether it has been corrected. If the faculty member does not contest the allegation and fulfills the contractual duties, the matter is settled. If the faculty member fails to correct the negligence, dismissal or a lesser sanction may be applied as described in Section 8.6.

Any faculty member disciplined or dismissed following provisions of Section 8 has the right to timely appeal following procedures described in Section 16. The burden of proof in such appeals, unless otherwise specified in Section 8, lies with the institution. Termination shall not be delayed because of the appeal, nor shall the appeal be denied because of termination.