University lecturers rallied this afternoon to protest the non-reappointment of one of the Lecturers Employment Organization's top officials, a move some lecturers are calling retaliation against the union.

The group of about 30 lecturers, dressed in yellow LEO T-shirts, gathered in Angell Hall before marching from the English Department’s offices in Angell Hall to LSA Dean Terrence McDonald’s office in the LSA Administration Building. The protest continued with members ending their rally on the third floor of the Fleming Administration Building just outside Provost Teresa Sullivan’s office.

LEO members say the decision by University officials to not reappoint Kirsten Herold, who has worked as a lecturer in the University's English Department for 18 years and serves as the union’s vice president, is the latest of several incidents that highlight problematic review procedures in place for lecturers at the University.

Union officials also say the University’s decision could have a significant impact on the ongoing contract negotiations between LEO and the University.

Herold was going through a remediation process with the University when she received notice on Wednesday that she would not be allowed to return to the University’s English Department after the end of this semester.

Remediation is a process in which a lecturer's performance is reviewed and a plan is developed to address any deficiencies or concerns that are raised. After the remediation plan is developed, the lecturer is given time to implement the plan to adequately address any concerns.

The plan's implementation and the lecturer’s progress is then measured by department officials to see whether satisfactory progress was made. After review, the decision to reappoint or not reappoint the lecturer is made.

But LEO officials say Herold’s follow-up evaluation was met with additional concerns that were not brought up in her initial remediation plan. As such, LEO President Bonnie Halloran said Herold was not given the appropriate time to address the English Department’s concerns.

University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said she could not comment on the matter because it involved a specific employee. However, Cunningham did say that, as in any reappointment proceeding, University officials would have followed the proper steps as outlined in the University's contract with the lecturers’ union.

Associate Vice Provost Jeff Frumkin is the senior director of Academic Human Resources and the University’s chief negotiator in the bargaining of labor contracts with the various unions at the University. In an interview Friday, Frumkin said the University typically makes decisions to reappoint or not reappoint University lecturers at this time each year, with decisions made by April 1.

Frumkin said he could not discuss the specific incident surrounding Herold, but said he had not been informed of any improper handling of a reappointment case and that as of Friday morning no grievances had been filed.

Frumkin said to his knowledge the established process for reappointment had been followed.

“It hasn’t been brought to my attention that there have been any procedural irregularities,” he said.

However, Frumkin said the evaluation process is open to interpretation as it can be difficult to definitively quantify many performance areas.

“All of these decisions involve a certain amount of judgment,” Frumkin said.