A Utah professor, accused of repeatedly misusing a university purchase card for thousands of dollars in personal purchases, received $175,000 in separation pay instead of facing disciplinary action, according to a newly released state legislative audit. The payout, involving an employee at Weber State University, came to light as auditors examined wider problems with how Utah's public colleges and universities manage tenured faculty accountability.
Utah Legislative Auditor General Kade Minchey confirmed that the professor was employed at Weber State, though the individual's name and position were not disclosed, as reported by KJZZ. The audit found that rather than pursue formal discipline, Weber State entered into a separation agreement with the employee. This agreement included the $175,000 payment, a letter of reference from the provost, and a non-disclosure agreement.
This specific case became a central example in a broader legislative review focusing on tenured faculty oversight within Utah's public higher education system. Auditors concluded that the existing oversight of tenured faculty does little to ensure accountability, according to Deseret News. The audit was comprehensive, drawing on more than 120 interviews and reviewing 666 performance evaluations of tenured professors across the state system.
From those 666 performance reviews, only eight concluded that a professor's teaching performance required improvement, the Deseret News report notes. Auditors further examined 40 cases where teaching was rated satisfactory despite evidence suggesting otherwise. This finding indicates that official review numbers likely understate the frequency with which poor teaching goes unaddressed.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, in its review of the same findings, similarly stated that auditors found only eight instances where tenured faculty members with poor teaching performance were required to go through remediation. An additional 40 cases, as detailed by The Chronicle, illustrate how an individual identified as a persistently poor teacher could still receive a satisfactory rating or be given no remediation plan at all.
Part of this accountability gap, the audit traced, stems from the structure of department-chair positions. Sixty-seven percent of auditor interviews with department chairs revealed concerns about their roles, authority, workload, incentives, or training, as per the Deseret News account. Investigators found that temporary, rotational chair models create what the audit called "structural disincentives" that discourage chairs from addressing poor faculty performance. The Chronicle's reporting adds that chairs are selected from among their faculty peers, serve in rotating positions, and already face heavy workloads, a combination that offers little incentive to confront colleagues over performance problems. Salt Lake Community College was noted in the audit as the single institution using a permanent, non-rotational model for its first-line department supervisors, the Deseret News reported.
Based on these findings, auditors recommended that the State Board of Education take steps to strengthen the supervisory role of department chairs while also holding them more accountable, according to the Chronicle's reporting. The audit also recommended that the state document best practices from other states regarding the discipline of tenured faculty, as per the Utah Office of the Legislative Auditor General.
Weber State's own written policy outlines how tenured faculty are to be evaluated: annually, with a post-tenure review occurring every five years or more often under specified circumstances. This review is intended to include compliance with university policies covering faculty responsibilities and ethical obligations. It is conducted by a committee of tenured faculty peers appointed by the provost in consultation with the department chair, according to the policy posted by Weber State University. Under that same policy, failure to correct deficiencies identified in a post-tenure review can lead to disciplinary action, including dismissal, subject to due process.
