A tenured music professor at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville filed a lawsuit Friday against the University of Arkansas System’s president and the University of Arkansas board of trustees, claiming policy wasn’t followed in his dismissal.
A complaint filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court on behalf of bassoon professor Richard Ramey states he wasn’t presented with the chance to complete a professional development plan, as required by board policy, and argues the date of his effective dismissal.
Being tenured promotes a faculty member to the status of a permanent employee who cannot be dismissed without sufficient cause.
Ramey was first presented with a recommendation for his dismissal March 9, 2012, and after a lengthy appeal process, the board of trustees at a Feb. 1 hearing confirmed the dismissal, effective March 9 of this year.
University officials at the hearing said it was exceptionally rare for a faculty member’s appeal to reach the level of going before the board.
Ramey argues that the one-year notice before his effective dismissal date, required by board policy, began Feb. 11, when he received a letter from the board of its decision not to overturn his dismissal, and that he should remain employed at least until Feb. 11, 2014.
The university maintains that the one-year notice began when he received theoriginal six-page letter from music department Chairman Ronda Mains, who recommended the dismissal.
In that letter, given to Ramey last March, Mains listed numerous complaints regarding Ramey’s professionalism, including that he purportedly repeatedly canceled classes, “neglecting and imposing hardships on students.”
His frequent absences are documented as far back as 2007 and student complaints go back to 1998, she wrote, adding that despite warnings, Ramey continued to miss classes to perform with a variety of out-of-town symphonies, and last year he canceled a class because of illness but performed in Tulsa that day.
Other reasons for the dismissal, Mains wrote, were Ramey’s unwillingness to work with others, disregard for university and departmental policies, and inaccuracies on his annual resume updates.
Mains listed several examples in 2007 and 2010 where Ramey claimed he edited books that weren’t published the year he said they were and that others verified he never assisted with. He listed attendance at conferences that to Mains’ knowledge never took place, she said.
He also turned his office into a recording studio without permission and continued outside employment after being denied approval, Mains wrote.
She also said she received reports that Ramey required students to purchase their reeds from him and kept the money from recordings he sold of the faculty quintet.
Most of these complaints were unanimously accepted as true and grounds for dismissal last year by a committee of faculty members that voted 6-to-2 in favor of Ramey’s dismissal.
UA System President Donald Bobbitt then accepted the committee’s recommendation, after his own review of the evidence, and told Ramey his dismissal would take effect March 9.
Ramey continues to deny and dispute “the veracity of the charges and motives behind these charges,” according to his complaint.
He seeks a court ruling that would forbid his dismissal before Feb. 11, 2014, and before a professional development plan is set forth and found unsuccessful.
His dismissal “during the middle of a semester is highly disruptive both to the students” he teaches and to himself, the complaint said. Dismissal “will effectively destroy [his] continued academic career.”
Ramey’s attorney describes him as an “internationally known and respected bassoonist” in the complaint.
Ramey denies having received an offer to complete a professional development plan - the process for improving a faculty member’s performance in areas deemed unsatisfactory.
Board policy states that dismissal proceedings against a tenured faculty member cannot begin until his professional development plan has been determined unsuccessful.
The 2012 recommendation of dismissal letter to Ramey from Mains states that after repeated requests and reminders for Ramey to develop his own plan were ignored, she created one for him on Sept. 3, 2010.
“I instituted a professional development plan thatmandated four corrective actions be taken,” including performance expectations and a recruitment plan for the bassoon program, Mains wrote in the letter.
“Your response to the development plan was to refuse to acknowledge your responsibility for these problems, to ignore the plan and to blame students for the problems in your classes,” she told Ramey.
Ramey has been with the music department since 1990. In 1991, he was promoted to assistant professor and he was promoted again, in 2005, to associate professor. He received his tenured status in 1996.
Ramey declined to comment about the lawsuit Saturday, but did say the Washington-based American Association of University Professors is assisting his attorney with the suit.
His attorney, Charles Kester of Fayetteville, did not return an e-mail Saturday.
UA System attorneys continue to maintain, as they did during the Feb. 1 hearing, that board and university policies were followed.
“The suit was just filed on Friday and our attorneys haven’t had the chance to review it yet,” UA System spokesman Ben Beaumont said Saturday. “They will review the suit and file appropriate responses and pleadings.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 15 on 02/24/2013