An embattled professor is fighting a legal battle with the University over why the courses he usually teaches were discontinued this year.

Aerospace engineering Prof. William Kauffman is not teaching his usual 500- and 600-level rocket propulsion classes this fall. Instead, the University offered him to teach a lower-level course in the same department.

According to a source familiar with the conflict who wished to remain anonymous, the University demoted Kauffman, who has tenure, to the lower-level class as a direct result of his publicizing his discontent with the University after leveling a lawsuit against it in 2000.

Kauffman is suing for damages the University and David Hyland, former chair of the Aerospace Engineering Department, for allegedly plagiarizing his proposal for a design center in the aerospace engineering department in 1999.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against Kauffman in late April. Kauffman is now appealing to the state Supreme Court.

The University declined to comment on Kauffman's situation.

"The general policy at the University is to not discuss individual personnel matters," University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said.

Cunningham said that when planning courses, each department coordinates who will be on its teaching staff by using student feedback, evaluations of the instructor's performance and the availability of willing professors.

Before pursuing legal action, Kauffman complained to the University and asked for an investigation. Unhappy with the original probe conducted by Judith Nowack, the University's associate vice president for research, Kauffman went to the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs with his concerns.

SACUA formed a faculty hearing committee composed of three professors from different colleges within the University to examine the case.

After a semester-long investigation, the committee determined that the University's response to Kauffman's complaint was insufficient.

In January, SACUA sent a letter to then-Interim Provost Ned Gramlich, stating that the University's investigation was incomplete and biased because the administration appointed people to carry it out without outside consultation. They appointed people with questionable credentials regarding matters of academic integrity, according to SACUA.

This semester, Kauffman was switched to undergraduate level courses.

The source familiar with the conflict said the University's actions are a response to Kauffman's public distribution of SACUA's opinion. The source is not affiliated with the University.

The source also said that the University asked Kauffman to teach a lower-level class, but Kauffman declined. Because of his refusal, the source said, the University threatened to fire him, and has begun taking steps to do so.

The source said someone called the police alleging Kauffman was planning on committing an act of violence against the University.

Kauffman declined to comment, but told The Michigan Daily in 2003 that the University routinely intimidates professors to get its way.

In the past quarter century, the University has attempted to fire tenured professors fewer than five times, Cunningham said. In such cases, the University Board of Regents is responsible for making the final decision.

Students' response to the cancellation of Kauffman's classes has been mixed.

In a letter to the Daily, second-year aerospace engineering graduate student Ryo Cheng said he was disappointed that Kauffman's classes were unavailable this term.

"I was told that the course I've waited for almost three years has been banned," Cheng wrote. "And the worst thing is, this is my last semester. I just couldn't believe that even for a Master's student, we cannot decide to take what we are interested in."

Cheng also said Kauffman's classes are popular and engaging.

Other students applauded the department's decision to remove Kauffman from the graduate program.

Some students said Kauffman's courses were easy classes that would guarantee an A grade regardless of effort.

"My colleagues and I who took this course agree that virtually no actual technical material was taught, and when it was, it was often wrong," said Adam Steinberg, a third-year aerospace engineering graduate student. "In the end, I received an A-plus in this course doing virtually zero work and gaining absolutely zero knowledge."

Andrew Lapsa, a third-year aerospace engineering graduate student, also criticized Kauffman's teaching.

"I could not have been happier when I heard that Dr. Kauffman would no longer be teaching these courses," Lapsa said. "By reassigning him, the door is open for a different professor, one who cares about delivering a quality and in-depth education, to teach these important topics.