Cancer center accused of violating standards

The MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas went against common university practices in dismissing two professors under its unusual term-tenure arrangement, according to the American Association of University Professors.

The hospital, part of the University of Texas system, did not renew the contracts of two tenured professors in 2011 and 2012. The AAUP alleges the firings violated university policies and national standards for tenured faculty. The association pins much of the blame on MD Anderson’s leadership.

“The report seems to indicate that [MD Anderson] is not an institution whose administration honors the values and principles that the AAUP supports,” says AAUP associate secretary Gregory Scholtz.