State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > New-york > Edn > Title-7 > Article-125 > 6212

§ 6212. Tenure.  1.  The following words and phrases, for the purposes  of this section, shall have the following meanings:    a. "Educational  unit"  shall  mean  a  college,  school,  preparatory  school, high school, or model school.    b.  "Instructional staff" shall mean the persons employed by the board  of trustees in the educational units governed and administered by it  in  the  grades  or  positions  of  president,  dean,  director,  professor,  associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, fellow,  lecturer,  senior  registrar,  registrar, assistant registrar, associate registrar,  college laboratory technicians; in the high  school  and  model  school:  principal,  first  assistant, supervisor, instructor, assistant teacher,  critic teacher, teacher; or in any grade or position which the board  of  trustees in its discretion may add thereto.    c.  "Tenure"  shall  mean  the  right of a person to hold his position  during good behavior and efficient and competent service, and not to  be  removed therefrom except for cause in the manner hereinafter provided.    2. All members of the permanent instructional staff of the educational  units  governed  and  administered  by  the board of trustees shall have  tenure.    3. The permanent instructional staff  shall  consist  of  all  persons  employed  by  the  city  university  on  an  annual  salary basis at the  educational units governed and administered by the board of trustees  as  follows:  (a) in the grades of professor, associate professor, assistant  professor, or in any grade or position which the board in its discretion  may add thereto, who, after serving on an annual salary in  any  of  the  grades  or  positions  enumerated  or provided for in this paragraph for  seven full years continuously, have been appointed or shall be appointed  for an eighth full year, except as provided  in  subdivisions  four  and  five  of  this  section;  and  (b)  in  the grades of college laboratory  technician, senior registrar, registrar, assistant registrar,  associate  registrar,  assistant  librarian and in the elementary and high schools:  instructor, assistant teacher, critic teacher, or  teacher,  or  in  any  grade  or  position  which  the board in its discretion may add thereto,  who, after serving on an annual salary in any of the grades or positions  enumerated or provided  for  in  this  paragraph  for  five  full  years  continuously, have been appointed or shall be appointed for a sixth full  year,  except  as  provided  in  subdivision  four  of this section; the  membership of such persons  on  the  permanent  instructional  staff  as  provided for in paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall become effective  on  the  first  day  of  September following their reappointment for the  eighth full year, and the membership of such persons  on  the  permanent  instructional  staff  as  provided  for  in  this paragraph shall become  effective on the first day of September  following  their  reappointment  for  the  sixth  full  year.  Where  the  service  of  a  member  of the  instructional staff, in one of the titles listed or provided for herein,  is interrupted by reason of absence on a maternity or child  care  leave  duly  granted by the board of trustees, the period of creditable service  immediately preceding such absence shall be  counted  in  computing  the  full years of service required by this subdivision.    4.  Nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  as conferring or  permitting tenure, or service credit toward the achievement  of  tenure,  in  the  grades or positions of president, director, assistant director,  dean, assistant dean, head  of  instructional  department,  chairman  of  instructional   department,   fellow,   laboratory  teaching  assistant,  principal, supervisor, or first assistant. Appointment to such grade  or  position, or removal therefrom, however, shall not deprive the person so  appointed   or  removed  of  tenure  in  the  highest  position  on  the  instructional staff held with tenure prior to his  appointment  to  suchoffice  or  conjointly  with  such office, nor shall the appointment to,  holding of, or removal from such grade or position deprive any person of  service credit toward the achievement of tenure under the provisions  of  this section.    5.  Persons appointed to the rank of professor, associate professor or  assistant professor may under the provisions of the board  of  trustee's  by-laws  be  placed on the permanent instructional staff by the board of  trustees in its discretion after not less than one nor more  than  seven  years  of  continuous  full time service on an annual salary except that  persons of proven record who have achieved tenure at another  recognized  institution  of  higher learning and whose appointment is to the rank of  professor may be granted  tenure  immediately  on  appointment.  Persons  promoted to the rank of professor shall be granted tenure after not more  than  four  years of continuous full time service on an annual salary in  positions on the instructional staff.    6. For the purpose of appointments and promotions in the instructional  staff which may be made after April twentieth, nineteen  hundred  forty,  the  board  of  trustees shall determine to what extent examinations are  practicable to ascertain merit and fitness for  each  of  the  positions  within  the  educational units covered and administered by it and, in so  far as examinations are deemed  practicable,  shall  determine  to  what  extent  it  is  practicable  that  such examinations be competitive. Any  examination held in accordance with the provisions of  this  subdivision  shall  be  set  and  administered  through any agency which the board of  trustees may from time to time create or designate.    7. Neither tenure as conferred through the operation of  this  section  nor the period requisite for the achievement of tenure shall be affected  by  transfer  within  the educational units governed and administered by  the board of trustees, or by promotion, or by change  of  title,  except  that  a  person  upon  whom tenure is conferred through the operation of  this section and who may be  transferred  to  any  position  within  the  educational units governed and administered by the board of trustees, or  who may be promoted, or whose title may be changed, shall have tenure in  his  new position, provided such position is not one of those enumerated  in subdivision four of this section. Nothing herein contained  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  the  board of trustees from assigning any person  having tenure to any appropriate position on  the  staff,  but  no  such  assignment  shall  carry  with  it a reduction in rank or a reduction in  salary other than the elimination of any additional  emolument  provided  for   administrative   positions.  Any  person  in  a  position  on  the  instructional staff just prior to the effective  date  of  this  article  shall  not  be  affected  with  respect to his tenure or the time credit  earned towards such tenure, or the period requisite for the  achievement  of  tenure  under the law as it existed just prior to the effective date  of this article.    8. A position held by a person upon whom tenure is  conferred  through  the  operation  of  this section may be abolished or discontinued by the  board of trustees for reasons which are  not  discriminatory  against  a  particular  person  or  persons.  In  the  event  that  a  position in a  department is to be abolished or discontinued, such  position  shall  be  that  of  the  person  last appointed to such department, save that, for  special educational reasons  which  are  not  discriminatory  against  a  particular  person  or  persons,  the board of trustees may continue the  services of a person  or  persons  whose  position  or  positions  would  otherwise  be  abolished or discontinued, and abolish or discontinue the  position or positions of  the  person  or  persons  next  most  recently  appointed to such department; provided, however, that all persons of any  grade  in  such  department  upon  whom  tenure  is not conferred by theoperation of this section shall be dismissed before the position of  any  other  person  in  such  department is abolished or discontinued. If the  board of trustees abolishes or discontinues the  position  of  a  person  upon  whom tenure is conferred through the operation of this section and  can find no position in the educational unit in which  such  person  has  been serving which can be efficiently and capably filled by such person,  then  his  name  shall be placed and shall remain for three years upon a  preferred eligible list  of  candidates  for  reappointment  to  fill  a  vacancy that may thereafter occur in a position which can be efficiently  and  capably  filled  by such person or to fill a newly created position  which can be efficiently and capably filled by such person. The board of  trustees shall, through the adoption of appropriate  by-laws,  determine  the number of such preferred eligible lists, the extent of applicability  of each such list, and the order of reappointment therefrom to vacancies  in  positions under its jurisdiction or to newly created positions under  its jurisdiction. No names shall be placed on  such  preferred  eligible  lists  except  as  hereinbefore provided for persons upon whom tenure is  conferred through the operation of this section. Any person  reappointed  from a preferred eligible list shall be reappointed at a salary not less  than  that  which  he  was  receiving when his position was abolished or  discontinued. Any person whose name is placed on  a  preferred  eligible  list  as hereinbefore provided shall, for the purpose of maintaining his  status in any retirement system of which he is a member, be deemed to be  on leave of absence without pay.    9. Persons having tenure under the provisions of this section  may  be  removed  or  suspended from the permanent instructional staff for one or  more of the following reasons, provided, however, that, except as  to  a  charge of misconduct constituting a crime when committed, no proceedings  shall  be  commenced  more  than  five years after the occurrence of the  alleged incompetency or misconduct:    a. incompetent or inefficient service;    b. neglect of duty;    c. physical or mental incapacity;    d. conduct unbecoming a member of the staff. This provision shall  not  be so interpreted as to constitute interference with academic freedom.    Proceedings  for  the  removal  of such a person shall be conducted in  accordance with the by-laws of the  board  of  trustees,  and  shall  be  initiated  by  service by the board of trustees upon the person involved  of a notice setting forth all the charges pending against  him.  Such  a  person  so  charged  shall  be  entitled  to  a  hearing  with  right of  representation by any  person  or  persons  of  his  choice  before  any  committee  which  the  board of trustees may appoint to investigate such  charges, or, in the event that such a committee is not appointed, before  the board of trustees. In cases in which such a committee is  appointed,  such  a person shall further be entitled to an appeal on the record with  right of representation by any person or persons of  his  choice  before  the  board  of trustees prior to its final determination of the question  of his removal. No such person shall be removed except at a  regular  or  special  meeting of the board of trustees, by an affirmative vote of the  majority of all the members of the board of trustees. For  the  purposes  of any such proceeding, the board by its chairman or the chairman of any  such  committee  shall  have  power  to  subpoena  witnesses, papers and  records, and to administer oaths.    10. If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this section, or the  application thereof to  any  person  or  circumstance,  shall,  for  any  reason,  be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,  such judgment or order  shall  not  invalidate  the  remainder  of  this  section  and  the application thereof to other persons or circumstances,but shall  be  confined  in  its  operation  to  the  clause,  sentence,  paragraph  or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which  such judgment or order shall have been rendered and  to  the  person  or  circumstance involved.

State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > New-york > Edn > Title-7 > Article-125 > 6212

§ 6212. Tenure.  1.  The following words and phrases, for the purposes  of this section, shall have the following meanings:    a. "Educational  unit"  shall  mean  a  college,  school,  preparatory  school, high school, or model school.    b.  "Instructional staff" shall mean the persons employed by the board  of trustees in the educational units governed and administered by it  in  the  grades  or  positions  of  president,  dean,  director,  professor,  associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, fellow,  lecturer,  senior  registrar,  registrar, assistant registrar, associate registrar,  college laboratory technicians; in the high  school  and  model  school:  principal,  first  assistant, supervisor, instructor, assistant teacher,  critic teacher, teacher; or in any grade or position which the board  of  trustees in its discretion may add thereto.    c.  "Tenure"  shall  mean  the  right of a person to hold his position  during good behavior and efficient and competent service, and not to  be  removed therefrom except for cause in the manner hereinafter provided.    2. All members of the permanent instructional staff of the educational  units  governed  and  administered  by  the board of trustees shall have  tenure.    3. The permanent instructional staff  shall  consist  of  all  persons  employed  by  the  city  university  on  an  annual  salary basis at the  educational units governed and administered by the board of trustees  as  follows:  (a) in the grades of professor, associate professor, assistant  professor, or in any grade or position which the board in its discretion  may add thereto, who, after serving on an annual salary in  any  of  the  grades  or  positions  enumerated  or provided for in this paragraph for  seven full years continuously, have been appointed or shall be appointed  for an eighth full year, except as provided  in  subdivisions  four  and  five  of  this  section;  and  (b)  in  the grades of college laboratory  technician, senior registrar, registrar, assistant registrar,  associate  registrar,  assistant  librarian and in the elementary and high schools:  instructor, assistant teacher, critic teacher, or  teacher,  or  in  any  grade  or  position  which  the board in its discretion may add thereto,  who, after serving on an annual salary in any of the grades or positions  enumerated or provided  for  in  this  paragraph  for  five  full  years  continuously, have been appointed or shall be appointed for a sixth full  year,  except  as  provided  in  subdivision  four  of this section; the  membership of such persons  on  the  permanent  instructional  staff  as  provided for in paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall become effective  on  the  first  day  of  September following their reappointment for the  eighth full year, and the membership of such persons  on  the  permanent  instructional  staff  as  provided  for  in  this paragraph shall become  effective on the first day of September  following  their  reappointment  for  the  sixth  full  year.  Where  the  service  of  a  member  of the  instructional staff, in one of the titles listed or provided for herein,  is interrupted by reason of absence on a maternity or child  care  leave  duly  granted by the board of trustees, the period of creditable service  immediately preceding such absence shall be  counted  in  computing  the  full years of service required by this subdivision.    4.  Nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  as conferring or  permitting tenure, or service credit toward the achievement  of  tenure,  in  the  grades or positions of president, director, assistant director,  dean, assistant dean, head  of  instructional  department,  chairman  of  instructional   department,   fellow,   laboratory  teaching  assistant,  principal, supervisor, or first assistant. Appointment to such grade  or  position, or removal therefrom, however, shall not deprive the person so  appointed   or  removed  of  tenure  in  the  highest  position  on  the  instructional staff held with tenure prior to his  appointment  to  suchoffice  or  conjointly  with  such office, nor shall the appointment to,  holding of, or removal from such grade or position deprive any person of  service credit toward the achievement of tenure under the provisions  of  this section.    5.  Persons appointed to the rank of professor, associate professor or  assistant professor may under the provisions of the board  of  trustee's  by-laws  be  placed on the permanent instructional staff by the board of  trustees in its discretion after not less than one nor more  than  seven  years  of  continuous  full time service on an annual salary except that  persons of proven record who have achieved tenure at another  recognized  institution  of  higher learning and whose appointment is to the rank of  professor may be granted  tenure  immediately  on  appointment.  Persons  promoted to the rank of professor shall be granted tenure after not more  than  four  years of continuous full time service on an annual salary in  positions on the instructional staff.    6. For the purpose of appointments and promotions in the instructional  staff which may be made after April twentieth, nineteen  hundred  forty,  the  board  of  trustees shall determine to what extent examinations are  practicable to ascertain merit and fitness for  each  of  the  positions  within  the  educational units covered and administered by it and, in so  far as examinations are deemed  practicable,  shall  determine  to  what  extent  it  is  practicable  that  such examinations be competitive. Any  examination held in accordance with the provisions of  this  subdivision  shall  be  set  and  administered  through any agency which the board of  trustees may from time to time create or designate.    7. Neither tenure as conferred through the operation of  this  section  nor the period requisite for the achievement of tenure shall be affected  by  transfer  within  the educational units governed and administered by  the board of trustees, or by promotion, or by change  of  title,  except  that  a  person  upon  whom tenure is conferred through the operation of  this section and who may be  transferred  to  any  position  within  the  educational units governed and administered by the board of trustees, or  who may be promoted, or whose title may be changed, shall have tenure in  his  new position, provided such position is not one of those enumerated  in subdivision four of this section. Nothing herein contained  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  the  board of trustees from assigning any person  having tenure to any appropriate position on  the  staff,  but  no  such  assignment  shall  carry  with  it a reduction in rank or a reduction in  salary other than the elimination of any additional  emolument  provided  for   administrative   positions.  Any  person  in  a  position  on  the  instructional staff just prior to the effective  date  of  this  article  shall  not  be  affected  with  respect to his tenure or the time credit  earned towards such tenure, or the period requisite for the  achievement  of  tenure  under the law as it existed just prior to the effective date  of this article.    8. A position held by a person upon whom tenure is  conferred  through  the  operation  of  this section may be abolished or discontinued by the  board of trustees for reasons which are  not  discriminatory  against  a  particular  person  or  persons.  In  the  event  that  a  position in a  department is to be abolished or discontinued, such  position  shall  be  that  of  the  person  last appointed to such department, save that, for  special educational reasons  which  are  not  discriminatory  against  a  particular  person  or  persons,  the board of trustees may continue the  services of a person  or  persons  whose  position  or  positions  would  otherwise  be  abolished or discontinued, and abolish or discontinue the  position or positions of  the  person  or  persons  next  most  recently  appointed to such department; provided, however, that all persons of any  grade  in  such  department  upon  whom  tenure  is not conferred by theoperation of this section shall be dismissed before the position of  any  other  person  in  such  department is abolished or discontinued. If the  board of trustees abolishes or discontinues the  position  of  a  person  upon  whom tenure is conferred through the operation of this section and  can find no position in the educational unit in which  such  person  has  been serving which can be efficiently and capably filled by such person,  then  his  name  shall be placed and shall remain for three years upon a  preferred eligible list  of  candidates  for  reappointment  to  fill  a  vacancy that may thereafter occur in a position which can be efficiently  and  capably  filled  by such person or to fill a newly created position  which can be efficiently and capably filled by such person. The board of  trustees shall, through the adoption of appropriate  by-laws,  determine  the number of such preferred eligible lists, the extent of applicability  of each such list, and the order of reappointment therefrom to vacancies  in  positions under its jurisdiction or to newly created positions under  its jurisdiction. No names shall be placed on  such  preferred  eligible  lists  except  as  hereinbefore provided for persons upon whom tenure is  conferred through the operation of this section. Any person  reappointed  from a preferred eligible list shall be reappointed at a salary not less  than  that  which  he  was  receiving when his position was abolished or  discontinued. Any person whose name is placed on  a  preferred  eligible  list  as hereinbefore provided shall, for the purpose of maintaining his  status in any retirement system of which he is a member, be deemed to be  on leave of absence without pay.    9. Persons having tenure under the provisions of this section  may  be  removed  or  suspended from the permanent instructional staff for one or  more of the following reasons, provided, however, that, except as  to  a  charge of misconduct constituting a crime when committed, no proceedings  shall  be  commenced  more  than  five years after the occurrence of the  alleged incompetency or misconduct:    a. incompetent or inefficient service;    b. neglect of duty;    c. physical or mental incapacity;    d. conduct unbecoming a member of the staff. This provision shall  not  be so interpreted as to constitute interference with academic freedom.    Proceedings  for  the  removal  of such a person shall be conducted in  accordance with the by-laws of the  board  of  trustees,  and  shall  be  initiated  by  service by the board of trustees upon the person involved  of a notice setting forth all the charges pending against  him.  Such  a  person  so  charged  shall  be  entitled  to  a  hearing  with  right of  representation by any  person  or  persons  of  his  choice  before  any  committee  which  the  board of trustees may appoint to investigate such  charges, or, in the event that such a committee is not appointed, before  the board of trustees. In cases in which such a committee is  appointed,  such  a person shall further be entitled to an appeal on the record with  right of representation by any person or persons of  his  choice  before  the  board  of trustees prior to its final determination of the question  of his removal. No such person shall be removed except at a  regular  or  special  meeting of the board of trustees, by an affirmative vote of the  majority of all the members of the board of trustees. For  the  purposes  of any such proceeding, the board by its chairman or the chairman of any  such  committee  shall  have  power  to  subpoena  witnesses, papers and  records, and to administer oaths.    10. If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this section, or the  application thereof to  any  person  or  circumstance,  shall,  for  any  reason,  be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,  such judgment or order  shall  not  invalidate  the  remainder  of  this  section  and  the application thereof to other persons or circumstances,but shall  be  confined  in  its  operation  to  the  clause,  sentence,  paragraph  or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which  such judgment or order shall have been rendered and  to  the  person  or  circumstance involved.

State Codes and Statutes

State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > New-york > Edn > Title-7 > Article-125 > 6212

§ 6212. Tenure.  1.  The following words and phrases, for the purposes  of this section, shall have the following meanings:    a. "Educational  unit"  shall  mean  a  college,  school,  preparatory  school, high school, or model school.    b.  "Instructional staff" shall mean the persons employed by the board  of trustees in the educational units governed and administered by it  in  the  grades  or  positions  of  president,  dean,  director,  professor,  associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, fellow,  lecturer,  senior  registrar,  registrar, assistant registrar, associate registrar,  college laboratory technicians; in the high  school  and  model  school:  principal,  first  assistant, supervisor, instructor, assistant teacher,  critic teacher, teacher; or in any grade or position which the board  of  trustees in its discretion may add thereto.    c.  "Tenure"  shall  mean  the  right of a person to hold his position  during good behavior and efficient and competent service, and not to  be  removed therefrom except for cause in the manner hereinafter provided.    2. All members of the permanent instructional staff of the educational  units  governed  and  administered  by  the board of trustees shall have  tenure.    3. The permanent instructional staff  shall  consist  of  all  persons  employed  by  the  city  university  on  an  annual  salary basis at the  educational units governed and administered by the board of trustees  as  follows:  (a) in the grades of professor, associate professor, assistant  professor, or in any grade or position which the board in its discretion  may add thereto, who, after serving on an annual salary in  any  of  the  grades  or  positions  enumerated  or provided for in this paragraph for  seven full years continuously, have been appointed or shall be appointed  for an eighth full year, except as provided  in  subdivisions  four  and  five  of  this  section;  and  (b)  in  the grades of college laboratory  technician, senior registrar, registrar, assistant registrar,  associate  registrar,  assistant  librarian and in the elementary and high schools:  instructor, assistant teacher, critic teacher, or  teacher,  or  in  any  grade  or  position  which  the board in its discretion may add thereto,  who, after serving on an annual salary in any of the grades or positions  enumerated or provided  for  in  this  paragraph  for  five  full  years  continuously, have been appointed or shall be appointed for a sixth full  year,  except  as  provided  in  subdivision  four  of this section; the  membership of such persons  on  the  permanent  instructional  staff  as  provided for in paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall become effective  on  the  first  day  of  September following their reappointment for the  eighth full year, and the membership of such persons  on  the  permanent  instructional  staff  as  provided  for  in  this paragraph shall become  effective on the first day of September  following  their  reappointment  for  the  sixth  full  year.  Where  the  service  of  a  member  of the  instructional staff, in one of the titles listed or provided for herein,  is interrupted by reason of absence on a maternity or child  care  leave  duly  granted by the board of trustees, the period of creditable service  immediately preceding such absence shall be  counted  in  computing  the  full years of service required by this subdivision.    4.  Nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  as conferring or  permitting tenure, or service credit toward the achievement  of  tenure,  in  the  grades or positions of president, director, assistant director,  dean, assistant dean, head  of  instructional  department,  chairman  of  instructional   department,   fellow,   laboratory  teaching  assistant,  principal, supervisor, or first assistant. Appointment to such grade  or  position, or removal therefrom, however, shall not deprive the person so  appointed   or  removed  of  tenure  in  the  highest  position  on  the  instructional staff held with tenure prior to his  appointment  to  suchoffice  or  conjointly  with  such office, nor shall the appointment to,  holding of, or removal from such grade or position deprive any person of  service credit toward the achievement of tenure under the provisions  of  this section.    5.  Persons appointed to the rank of professor, associate professor or  assistant professor may under the provisions of the board  of  trustee's  by-laws  be  placed on the permanent instructional staff by the board of  trustees in its discretion after not less than one nor more  than  seven  years  of  continuous  full time service on an annual salary except that  persons of proven record who have achieved tenure at another  recognized  institution  of  higher learning and whose appointment is to the rank of  professor may be granted  tenure  immediately  on  appointment.  Persons  promoted to the rank of professor shall be granted tenure after not more  than  four  years of continuous full time service on an annual salary in  positions on the instructional staff.    6. For the purpose of appointments and promotions in the instructional  staff which may be made after April twentieth, nineteen  hundred  forty,  the  board  of  trustees shall determine to what extent examinations are  practicable to ascertain merit and fitness for  each  of  the  positions  within  the  educational units covered and administered by it and, in so  far as examinations are deemed  practicable,  shall  determine  to  what  extent  it  is  practicable  that  such examinations be competitive. Any  examination held in accordance with the provisions of  this  subdivision  shall  be  set  and  administered  through any agency which the board of  trustees may from time to time create or designate.    7. Neither tenure as conferred through the operation of  this  section  nor the period requisite for the achievement of tenure shall be affected  by  transfer  within  the educational units governed and administered by  the board of trustees, or by promotion, or by change  of  title,  except  that  a  person  upon  whom tenure is conferred through the operation of  this section and who may be  transferred  to  any  position  within  the  educational units governed and administered by the board of trustees, or  who may be promoted, or whose title may be changed, shall have tenure in  his  new position, provided such position is not one of those enumerated  in subdivision four of this section. Nothing herein contained  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  the  board of trustees from assigning any person  having tenure to any appropriate position on  the  staff,  but  no  such  assignment  shall  carry  with  it a reduction in rank or a reduction in  salary other than the elimination of any additional  emolument  provided  for   administrative   positions.  Any  person  in  a  position  on  the  instructional staff just prior to the effective  date  of  this  article  shall  not  be  affected  with  respect to his tenure or the time credit  earned towards such tenure, or the period requisite for the  achievement  of  tenure  under the law as it existed just prior to the effective date  of this article.    8. A position held by a person upon whom tenure is  conferred  through  the  operation  of  this section may be abolished or discontinued by the  board of trustees for reasons which are  not  discriminatory  against  a  particular  person  or  persons.  In  the  event  that  a  position in a  department is to be abolished or discontinued, such  position  shall  be  that  of  the  person  last appointed to such department, save that, for  special educational reasons  which  are  not  discriminatory  against  a  particular  person  or  persons,  the board of trustees may continue the  services of a person  or  persons  whose  position  or  positions  would  otherwise  be  abolished or discontinued, and abolish or discontinue the  position or positions of  the  person  or  persons  next  most  recently  appointed to such department; provided, however, that all persons of any  grade  in  such  department  upon  whom  tenure  is not conferred by theoperation of this section shall be dismissed before the position of  any  other  person  in  such  department is abolished or discontinued. If the  board of trustees abolishes or discontinues the  position  of  a  person  upon  whom tenure is conferred through the operation of this section and  can find no position in the educational unit in which  such  person  has  been serving which can be efficiently and capably filled by such person,  then  his  name  shall be placed and shall remain for three years upon a  preferred eligible list  of  candidates  for  reappointment  to  fill  a  vacancy that may thereafter occur in a position which can be efficiently  and  capably  filled  by such person or to fill a newly created position  which can be efficiently and capably filled by such person. The board of  trustees shall, through the adoption of appropriate  by-laws,  determine  the number of such preferred eligible lists, the extent of applicability  of each such list, and the order of reappointment therefrom to vacancies  in  positions under its jurisdiction or to newly created positions under  its jurisdiction. No names shall be placed on  such  preferred  eligible  lists  except  as  hereinbefore provided for persons upon whom tenure is  conferred through the operation of this section. Any person  reappointed  from a preferred eligible list shall be reappointed at a salary not less  than  that  which  he  was  receiving when his position was abolished or  discontinued. Any person whose name is placed on  a  preferred  eligible  list  as hereinbefore provided shall, for the purpose of maintaining his  status in any retirement system of which he is a member, be deemed to be  on leave of absence without pay.    9. Persons having tenure under the provisions of this section  may  be  removed  or  suspended from the permanent instructional staff for one or  more of the following reasons, provided, however, that, except as  to  a  charge of misconduct constituting a crime when committed, no proceedings  shall  be  commenced  more  than  five years after the occurrence of the  alleged incompetency or misconduct:    a. incompetent or inefficient service;    b. neglect of duty;    c. physical or mental incapacity;    d. conduct unbecoming a member of the staff. This provision shall  not  be so interpreted as to constitute interference with academic freedom.    Proceedings  for  the  removal  of such a person shall be conducted in  accordance with the by-laws of the  board  of  trustees,  and  shall  be  initiated  by  service by the board of trustees upon the person involved  of a notice setting forth all the charges pending against  him.  Such  a  person  so  charged  shall  be  entitled  to  a  hearing  with  right of  representation by any  person  or  persons  of  his  choice  before  any  committee  which  the  board of trustees may appoint to investigate such  charges, or, in the event that such a committee is not appointed, before  the board of trustees. In cases in which such a committee is  appointed,  such  a person shall further be entitled to an appeal on the record with  right of representation by any person or persons of  his  choice  before  the  board  of trustees prior to its final determination of the question  of his removal. No such person shall be removed except at a  regular  or  special  meeting of the board of trustees, by an affirmative vote of the  majority of all the members of the board of trustees. For  the  purposes  of any such proceeding, the board by its chairman or the chairman of any  such  committee  shall  have  power  to  subpoena  witnesses, papers and  records, and to administer oaths.    10. If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this section, or the  application thereof to  any  person  or  circumstance,  shall,  for  any  reason,  be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,  such judgment or order  shall  not  invalidate  the  remainder  of  this  section  and  the application thereof to other persons or circumstances,but shall  be  confined  in  its  operation  to  the  clause,  sentence,  paragraph  or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which  such judgment or order shall have been rendered and  to  the  person  or  circumstance involved.