On Monday political science professor Monique Mironesco will walk on to the West Oahu campus of the University of Hawaii and resume the job that was taken away from her 18 months ago.
An arbitrator ruled last month that the university wrongfully fired the 10-year "temporary" faculty member in what the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly describes as a landmark decision that will affect hundreds of nontenured UH professors who might face the same situation now or in the future.
In Mironesco’s case the university violated an 11-year-old provision of the collective bargaining agreement that calls for converting temporary appointments into permanent ones when a position becomes available after seven or more years of employment funded primarily from the state general fund, the arbitrator ruled.
Instead of offering Mironesco an opportunity to become a tenured professor in 2013, UH-West Oahu administrators discontinued her position and decided to conduct a nationwide search for two positions outside her field of political science (one for anthropology and another for economics) for the 2014-15 academic year.
The university offered no comment Thursday, saying in a statement that it "respects the ongoing arbitration process involving a personnel matter."
UHPA officials, speaking at a press conference Thursday, said the university unsuccessfully argued that the wording of the contract refers to the position and not the person.
Misty Carmichael, UHPA assistant executive director, described the arbitrator’s ruling as a major victory.
"We hope (it) encourages faculty in Hawaii and on the national level that justice can prevail," she said.
Mironesco, who earned her doctorate in political science at UH-Manoa, started at UH-West Oahu as a social sciences lecturer in 2002 and was promoted twice over the last 10 years, to assistant professor in 2007 and to associate professor in 2012, working full time but also considered a temporary employee.
During her time at UH-West Oahu, Mironesco built an online educational program for political science students and obtained grant funding for a new undergraduate degree program, among other things.
"I’ve poured my heart and soul into UH-West Oahu for the past 10 years," she said.
Despite assurances from previous administrators that she would get a shot at a tenured position as soon as the money became available, she learned in July 2013 that her job was being discontinued in order to create some new tenured positions.
"I was in total disbelief that my contributions to the university would be so undervalued that they could just throw a decade of service out the window," she said.
Mironesco became a lecturer in the university’s outreach program — which she called a four-step demotion with an 80 percent pay cut — and filed a grievance with the faculty union.
"I thought I had very little chance of getting my job back because the little guy rarely wins," she said.
In the meantime her students rallied to her side, writing letters and circulating petitions.
"Educators like Monique come along only once in a blue moon," said Sara Perry of Waianae, who collected 265 signatures in a petition. "She lights fires under her students."
With the faculty union behind her, the case finally went to arbitration. Eventually, the hearing officer concluded the university did not honor the terms in the agreement and that there is no separation between a position and a person.
"The gravity of this case moved both faculty and administrators to come to Mironesco’s defense," said J.N. Musto, UHPA’s executive director and chief negotiator. "It shows meritocracy, doing good work, still prevails. It has restored the faith of faculty who have felt completely helpless against the whims of administrators. Those who try to make up their own rules cannot always get away with it."
Mironesco, who will begin a five-year probationary period on a tenured track Monday, said she is overjoyed to win back her job. But she admitted to being a little unsure about what she faces when she returns to campus for the start of the spring semester.
"Will the UH administration assign me a broom closet for an office? Or will I get a computer? Or will people treat me differently?" she said.
