Cummings’ tenure threatened

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 | 9:11 a.m.

University system attorneys have taken the first steps to revoke tenure from former lobbyist John Cummings, which could ultimately lead to his firing from the Community College of Southern Nevada.

Cummings said his 6-year-old daughter received the letter initiating proceedings against him from a process server after she answered the door about 8 p.m. Friday at the family's home.

Even though the proceedings had been mandated by the Board of Regents in November, Cummings said he was "devastated" by the notice.

"It's a shock to me," Cummings said. "More than that, it's saddened me that the system could be so mean-spirited and unwilling to put this behind them."

Regent Mark Alden, one of the board's loudest critics, sent out a letter stating that "this administrative action is directly in conflict with the spirit of the current and ongoing negotiations of settling the lawsuits of both John Cummings and Ronald K. Remington."

"What they've done is just get everybody fired up again," Alden said.

Cummings has seven days to respond to the multiple charges against him that stem from an investigation into the hiring and firing of Topazia "Briget" Jones, an administrative employee who worked for Cummings in the 2003 Legislature.

CCSN administration declined to comment because it is a personnel matter, spokeswoman Helen Clougherty said. Chancellor Jane Nichols and university system attorney Walter Ayers, who wrote the letter, were not available for comment Monday.

Jones was given "whistleblower" protection after she alleged Cummings had hired her and others inappropriately, allowed her to work as a lobbyist assistant for Assemblyman Wendell Williams and pursued legislative bills not approved by the Board of Regents. Jones also alleged Remington, the CCSN president at the time, was part of the pursuit of legislative funding unapproved by the regents.

Both men were removed from their posts after 17 hours of closed sessions Nov. 17 and 20. Jones narrowly escaped being fired after the investigation uncovered she lied on her resume, saying she had a college degree when she never graduated.

Frank Cremen, Cummings' attorney, would not release a copy of the letter Monday but said the charges touch upon the legislative issues but that most of the allegations center around Jones.

"Ninety percent of it concerns Briget Jones," Cremen said.

After Cremen responds to the allegations on Cummings' behalf -- allegations Cummings maintains are "ludicrous and false" -- a Faculty Senate committee will conduct a formal hearing on the charges and make its recommendation.

The committee cannot revoke Cummings' tenure, but it can recommend disciplinary actions including termination, Candace Kant, president of the Nevada Faculty Alliance, and Mitzi Ware, CCSN Faculty Senate chairwoman, said.

Many regents in November said they wanted Cummings' tenure revoked, but they did not have the power to do so directly.

Many faculty at CCSN have expressed concern over what they believe is a lack of due process and an attack on their tenure, Ware and other faculty leaders said.

Other professors and some regents agreed.

"If it is revoked for him it can be revoked for someone else for some other reason," said Geoffrey Frasz, CCSN chapter president of the Nevada Faculty Alliance. "That's the chilling effect that it has."

Regent Howard Rosenberg, an art professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, said he understood the concerns of CCSN faculty members.

"You're dealing with a man's tenure," Rosenberg said. "If that does not send chills down every faculty member here and in the country, I don't know what does. When the Board of Regents can reach down and monkey with tenure, something is wrong."

Regents who voted for the proceedings, however, deny that they are attacking tenure.

"I do not consider this to be an attack," Regent Bret Whipple said. "This is a one-time issue where we felt there were improper actions and this is due process."

In the end, the CCSN faculty will recommend Cummings' punishment, Whipple said.

"This all comes down to his peers," Whipple said. "They will make the determination. In this case they are the jury."

Sun reporter

Molly Ball contributed to this story.