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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The American Association of University Professors has dropped Westminster College from its list of colleges censured for alleged violation of academic freedom or tenure.
The AAUP put the private Salt Lake institution on the list in 1985 because of a move by school leaders to abandon the tenure system.
Westminster has revised its faculty protocol, adopting a provision assuring some protections for all full-time faculty members with more than seven years of service.
AAUP leaders voted during their annual conference Saturday to confirm that Westminster is a "healthy, functioning institution of higher education."
Brigham Young University, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been on the list since 1998. The AAUP said a professor had been denied tenure because her views were contrary to the tenets of the Mormon church.
The AAUP also found that BYU's appeal procedures were inadequate.
University spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said, "We have been accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. When they came in 1996, they particularly examined and reviewed our academic freedom policy and approved us."
She said BYU officials are not concerned about getting off the list.
Just this week, it was disclosed that part-time BYU philosophy professor Jeffrey Nielsen will not be rehired after the end of the spring term because of his op-ed piece in The Salt Lake Tribune criticizing the church's stand against gay marriage.
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Information from: Deseret Morning News, http://www.deseretnews.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
