UPR professors leave the meeting to protest the seat given to the university president

Representatives of the teaching staff from the 11 campuses of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) left a meeting with the university administration this morning, rejecting the granting of a teaching position to the president of the academic institution, Jorge Haddock Acevedo.

The 11 representatives of the cloister before the UPR University Council had been invited to an “academic meeting in the cloister”, which would be attended by the rectors of the academic units and the president of UPR, explained the cloister representative of the Río Piedras campus, Jorge Columb.

“When the meeting began – I agreed and I did – I announced that I had left the meeting in protest of the action of the Board of Directors to grant Jorge Haddock a position with the rank of professor who violates the Law and University Regulations ( General of the UPR) “, said the professor.

Last month, the board of directors gave Haddock Acevedo the position of professor, which, when he was hired in 2018, it was agreed that he will receive if he will hold two years in office and will obtain satisfactory performance evaluations. When he was appointed president, Haddock Acevedo was not part of the UPR faculty.

The university community has denounced the fact that the Board of Directors does not have the power to grant teaching positions. The general rules of the UPR stipulate that teachers must be evaluated by the staff committees of the faculties and departments in which they will be appointed. The board of directors of each campus is the entity that grants or refuses stays, subject to the evaluations it receives.

Although the regulations provide for exceptions for the award of degrees or promotions to teachers for extraordinary merits, none of the alternative ways detailed in the regulations give the Governing Board the authority to award them. In fact, it is the governing body that makes the final determination in case of disputes.

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

“This staff committee did not see anything, did not participate, was not consulted … We have cases in the university of teachers who are without positions, who have been for years and are not given any position. And if they were given, they would have to go through all the processes. But for the president, they ignored everything. It’s not fair, “said the cloistered leader.

The members of the board of directors indicated, however, that they should comply with the granting of the seat, as it is a contractual provision.

Colón argued that Haddock Acevedo himself should have opposed receiving the degree from the Governing Board.

“He should have said, ‘I have to follow the rules of the university, that’s not the case.’ He participates in the meetings of the board of directors, he supported this action ultra vires. What does this say about the top leader of the university, who annuls the regulations of the institution he leads? “, Said Columbus.

Faced with this situation, the representatives of the faculty and the student sector in front of the university council convened the academic senates from each campus to express themselves on the controversy in an effort to revoke the decision of the governing council.