Young is an assistant professor at a state university law school. He has a one-year nonrenewing teaching contract. After an assistant professor has taught for five years pursuant to such one-year contracts, the policy of the university is to grant tenure. After three years, the university, without holding a hearing on the matter, decided not to renew Young’s contract. Which of the following is the best statement of his rights against the university?
A. He has no right to a hearing because the administrative burden in providing a hearing is more substantial than any property rights which have been adversely affected.
B. He has no right to a hearing because no statute, rule, or policy secures him a right in continued employment.
C. He has been denied due process because he has a continuing property right in teaching.
D. The failure to renew his teaching contract is an attack on the property interest which he has in his reputation, and he has therefore been denied due process.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
B.
Answer B is correct. Young’s contract with the state university was nonrenewing and, therefore, it created no property interest the denial of which would entitle him to a hearing. If the dismissal had taken place after his fifth one-year contract, then he would have had an expectation of tenure which would have amounted to a property right. Board of Regents v. Roth. Therefore, C is incorrect.
Answer A is incorrect. Young does not have a property interest in his job because he does not have tenure or any other contract right to continued employment. Therefore, the issue of balancing his property right against the administrative burden is not reached.
Answer D is incorrect. An interest in reputation alone is not a sufficient property interest to invoke procedural due process and, therefore, Young is not entitled to a hearing.
b
I hate my life. I hate this test.
Jack, go out for a drive and get some fresh air. Hang in there … you can do it!
B.
you are not alone….this week sucks….good luck
Don’t psych yourself out. Do whatever you need to do to be as calm as possible–pray, exercise, take a break–whatever will be helpful to you. But have confidence that you can do it–your hard work will pay off.
answer B
answer b. The right to continue private employment is not a protected right. contract employee who serves at the will of the university cannot obtain tenure (that is, a protected property interest in public employment) at the university until the prof has taught under five one-year contracts. Prof has taught at the school for only three years. he has no protected property interest in continued employment, and therefore the univ. is not required to give her notice and an opportunity to be heard pursuant to the Due Process Clause before refusing to renew his contract.)
B
B or C. I’m not sure. Property = entitlement (reasonable expectation of continued receipt of a benefit). Tenure would be a property right; a one year non-renewing contract alone would not create an entitlement. I’m not sure if working 3 out of a possible 5 years (for tenure) creates that entitlement, but I think at that point, the expectation to continue teaching would be reasonable. I think I’m going with C.
B