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The procedures outlined below are adapted from current laws and the Statement on Procedural Standards in Faculty Dismissal Proceedings (prepared by a joint committee representing the Association of American Colleges and the American Association of University Professors and approved by the governing bodies of these institutions in 1989 and 1990, respectively).

Effective disciplinary proceedings look beyond procedure into setting and cause, and the college is best served by the cultivation of conditions in which discipline is rarely if ever needed. Just as the Board of Trustees is the legal and fiscal corporation of the college, the faculty is the academic entity. Thus college faculties are part of a complex and extensive structure requiring legal incorporation, with stewards and managers specifically appointed to discharge certain functions. A necessary precondition of a strong faculty is that it has first-hand concern with its own membership. This is properly reflected in appointments to, discipline of, and separations from the faculty body.

While disciplinary proceedings may be a rare occurrence at the college, it is important that the college establish disciplinary procedures. The college should establish and execute disciplinary proceedings so that both institutional integrity and individual rights may be preserved. The faculty must be willing to recommend the discipline or dismissal of a colleague when necessary. By the same token, presidents and governing boards must be willing to give full weight to a faculty judgment favorable to a colleague.