No Due Process: Workplace Mobbing of Administrators in Academe

Abstract

In the context of severe budget cuts to post-secondary institutions around the world, particularly in Canada and the United States, we are seeing more toxic leadership at the most senior ranks of universities and colleges. Rather than undertaking transparent analysis of business lines and initiating significant restructuring that is in keeping with good practice, a hit-and-miss approach with no due process is increasingly being chosen, resulting in willy-nilly terminations of administrators with or without cause. Examples include accusations of poor performance without actual performance evaluations according to institutional policies, disregard for documented progressive discipline procedures, and “weaponization” of 360 results by using them as performance evaluations and complaint and disciplinary tools. This paper discusses two important examples in the public domain, as well as others for which the identities of the victims are anonymized for their protection and dignity. The paper concludes by arguing that, at this troubling time in academe, there is an urgent need for sound leadership, associated training and due process, to avoid putting post-secondary institutions further at risk of public relations disasters, not to mention the risk to peoples’ lives and livelihoods.