(a) The board of regents and each state university board shall develop procedures for the termination of faculty with tenure for adequate cause by the institutions following a hearing that ensures due process, which procedures shall include the following minimum requirements:
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 49-8-303
Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) The faculty member shall be notified of the specific charges in writing, and shall be notified of the time, place, and nature of the hearing at least twenty (20) days prior to the hearing;(2) The faculty member shall have the right to be represented by counsel of the faculty member’s own choice;(3) A verbatim record of the hearing shall be made, and a typewritten copy made available to the faculty member for a reasonable fee at the faculty member’s request;(4) The burden of proof that adequate cause for termination exists shall be upon the institution and shall be satisfied only by clear and convincing evidence in the record considered as a whole;(5) The faculty member shall have the right to confront and cross-examine all witnesses; and(6) The findings of fact and the decision shall be based solely on the hearing record.(b) The board of regents and each state university board shall adopt all additional procedures the respective board deems necessary for the hearings and may provide for review of the decision by the board or its designee based upon the record.(c) A faculty member serving a probationary period shall be given an oral statement of the reason for nonappointment to the institution’s faculty.
