SCAD Resists Moves That Would Have Ended AAUP Censure

The American Association of University Professors, which thought it was on the verge of lifting the censure of the Savannah College of Art and Design, now seems likely to keep the institution on its censure list. A report released by the AAUP Thursday details a tentative agreement by SCAD to change its policies and to make cash payments to faculty members who the AAUP found were dismissed unfairly in the 1990s. But the report notes that a final step in the removal process -- a campus visit -- led discussions with SCAD to fall apart. The college wanted assurances of the lifting of censure, and control over the visit, the AAUP says. And these actions demonstrate serious academic freedom problems, the AAUP found. The college told the AAUP that "fundamental issues" separate SCAD and the AAUP. Further, SCAD asserted that these disagreements "have nothing to do with the high quality education that our faculty provides or with student achievement."