Old Dominion University

Board of Visitors Policy

1706 Grounds for Dismissal of EVMS Faculty

Date of Current Revision or Creation:

June 16, 2023

The appointment of tenured and non-tenured EVMS Faculty may be revoked and terminated and the faculty member dismissed from the faculty during the term of their appointment for any one of the following reasons or grounds. This Policy only applies to "EVMS Faculty" defined as Full-Time Faculty or Part-Time Faculty, or Community Faculty (as defined in the Policies and Procedures Relating to Faculty Appointment, Promotion and Tenure of EVMS Faculty), who provide clinical, teaching, research, or administrative services, whether paid or unpaid, in the EVMS School of Medicine ("SOM") and/or EVMS School of Health Professions ("SHP"). All references to "faculty" herein mean EVMS Faculty as defined in this policy.

Dismissal for "Just Cause"

Adequate cause for a dismissal will be related, directly and substantially, to the fitness of the EVMS Faculty member in their professional capacity as a teacher, researcher, or provider of patient care. Dismissal will not be used to restrain the faculty member in the exercise of academic freedom or other rights of an American citizen.

EVMS Faculty members holding tenured or non-tenured faculty appointments may be dismissed during the term of their appointment for "Just Cause" only after a hearing conducted by their Department Chair of the SOM or Dean of the SHP with a right of appeal through the EVMS Faculty grievance process. "Just Cause" is defined as any act or patterns of behavior considered to be seriously detrimental to the interests of ODU, the SOM or the SHP, its faculty, its students, or its employees, including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Neglect of duty, including, but not limited to, serious violation of faculty rules for governance or corporate by-laws, rules, and regulations.

2. Violation of generally accepted standards of professional ethics.

3. Material breach of the EVMS Faculty member's employment agreement.

4. Conviction of a crime deemed to render the faculty member unfit to carry out their professional activities.

5. Professional incompetence.

6. Refusal to perform legitimate work assigned by the faculty member's supervisor, Department Chair of the SOM or Dean of the SHP.