UPR professors leave the meeting in protest for a seat allocated to the university president

Representatives from the education sector from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) 11 campuses left a meeting with the university board this morning to decline the award of a position as professor to the president of the academic institution, Jorge Haddock Acevedo.

The 11 isolated representatives for the University Board of the UPR had been summoned to a “private academic meeting”, which would also include the rectors of the academic units and the president of the UPR, explained the monastery representative of the Río Piedras campus: Jorge Columbus .

“When the meeting started – we agreed and we did – we announced that we were leaving the meeting in protest at the board’s action to give Jorge Haddock a position of professor in violation of the law- and university regulations. of the UPR) ”, said the professor.

Last month, the Governing Board awarded Haddock Acevedo the position of full professor, which when he was hired in 2018, it was agreed that he would receive two years in office and receive satisfactory performance ratings. When he was appointed president, Haddock Acevedo was not part of the UPR faculty.

The university community has rejected the fact that the Executive Board is not authorized to award teaching positions. The General Regulations of the UPR stipulate that lecturers must be assessed by the staff committees of the faculties and departments in which they are appointed. The board of directors of each campus is the entity that grants or denies the stays, depending on the evaluations received.

While the regulations provide exceptions for the awarding of grades or promotions to teachers for extraordinary merit, none of the alternative routes outlined in the regulations empower the board of directors to grant them. In fact, it is the governing body that makes the final decision in case of disputes.

Colón explained that the place awarded to Haddock Acevedo will be in the Management Department of the Faculty of Business Administration of the Río Piedras campus.

“That personnel committee saw nothing, it did not participate, it was not consulted… In the university cases we have teachers who have no positions, who have been for years and who do not receive positions. And if they got it, they would have to go through all the processes. But for the president, they ignored everything. It’s not fair, ”said the monastery leader.

However, members of the management have indicated that they must adhere to the allocation of the place because it is a contractual provision.

Colón argued that Haddock Acevedo himself should have opposed receiving the rank of the board of directors.

‘He should have said,’ I have to respect university rules, it’s not like that. ‘He takes part in the meetings of the Board of Directors, he endorsed this action ultra vires. What does that say about the university’s top leader, who overrides the rules of the institution he leads? Colón said.

Faced with this situation, segregated representatives and the student sector for the Executive Board have called on the academic senates of each campus to speak out on the controversy in an effort to have the Governing Board’s decision rescinded.