Updated: June 18, 10:30 a.m.
A male associate professor has been fired after he engaged in a consensual relationship with a female undergraduate student whom he taught, Chancellor Kent Syverud announced Tuesday in an email.
A hearing panel of three faculty members found the professor violated the consensual relationships provision of the Policy on Inappropriate Conduct by Faculty Members and the University Code of Ethical Conduct. The panel recommended he be dismissed from service, including revocation of tenure, Syverud said in the email.
The professor requested the Board of Trustees review the case, and last week, after hearing arguments from the university and the professor, the Board upheld the panel’s decision.
Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs, said in an email that the case against the professor was a months-long process that spanned multiple semesters. He added that the verbal arguments and discussion during the Board of Trustees hearing lasted “a significant amount of time.”
Quinn said there is no record of a tenured professor being fired via this process at Syracuse University. If it did occur, Quinn said, “it would have been decades ago.”
Syverud said in the email that the professor taught, advised and supervised the student during the course of the relationship.
Section 4.1 of the faculty manual outlines SU’s stance on inappropriate conduct by faculty members. Part V of that section elaborates on consensual relationships, stating that relationships between university faculty members and any person for whom they have a professional responsibility, “may develop into professional conflicts of interest, or at least create the perception of such a conflict of interest, that may make it difficult to carry out a role as educator or supervisor.”
The policy goes on to state that potential for difficulties, including harassment or abuse of power, to occur, “is particularly strong in relationships between teachers and students they are teaching and/or advising.”
“This policy thus prohibits University Faculty Members from pursuing sexual relationships with undergraduate students they teach, advise or supervise.” (Faculty Manual, section 4.1 Part V)
Syverud said in a May 12 memorandum that the university brought charges last year based on the professor’s alleged violation of the consensual relationships provision of the policy.
