Former Vice Chancellor and Provost Shelley Pearson was terminated by Tarrant County College, she confirmed in a statement to the Fort Worth Report Thursday.
This comes weeks after faculty who taught virtual courses through the Connect Campus were told they must repay a portion of their summer salaries because of overpayment.
Pearson said she was told she was fired for reasons related to “faculty salary issues at TCC Connect,” and that she disagreed with the college’s findings.
“My decision in question was made in good faith and as part of an ongoing effort to correct longstanding workload inconsistencies that existed well before my tenure,” she wrote. “My office had been working closely with Human Resources and the campus for months to resolve complex faculty contract issues that did not align with existing policy.”
Pearson began working at TCC in fall 2021, serving as vice president of academic affairs for the Connect Campus before becoming vice chancellor and provost in summer 2023.
In an Oct. 10, 2024, email shared with the Fort Worth Report, Pearson wrote to Zena Jackson, vice president of academic affairs, and Carlos Morales, then-president of Connect Campus, that faculty would need to teach three to four-and-a-half hours in summer, a requirement that could be met by teaching one course.
Jackson forwarded that email to full-time Connect Campus faculty and wrote that “courses taught beyond this required load will be paid accordingly,” according to the email shared with the Report.
On Nov. 5, Connect Campus faculty members were told they would need to pay back a portion of their summer salaries because they did not fulfill their contractual obligations, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Some faculty received extra pay, or overloads, because they taught more than the hours initially stated. However, at the meeting faculty were told the minimum was supposed to have been six hours, or about two courses, which meant those who received overloads were overpaid and those who only taught one did not meet their contractual requirements, the Chronicle reported.
Reginald Gates, vice chancellor for communications and external affairs, said he was told by the college’s human resources department that faculty would be informed “in the coming weeks” of how much they individually owe and when repayment is due.
Confusion about summer requirements arose after the college changed contract lengths from monthly to actual days worked, according to the Chronicle.
An operational memo from Pearson sent to all full-time faculty at the college noted that the changes were made “to support the faculty request for clarity on contract workdays as well as instructional needs for specific programs,” according to a copy of the memo obtained by the Report.
A TCC policy on workloads, which was issued in 2022, outlines summer teaching requirements for nine- and 12-month contracts but does not include requirements for faculty on the workday-based contracts.
Pearson said that she has “always acted with integrity and with commitment to students, the college, and the community,” and that although she disagrees with her termination, she is still proud of her work at TCC.
“The college has isolated a single decision without considering years of inherited structural
problems, unclear policies, and widespread stipend practices that predated my leadership,” she wrote. “In fact, the reforms I implemented — including centralized contracting — saved the college nearly $2 million in excess stipends in the past year alone. These changes supported more responsible allocation of resources to academic programs and student-focused initiatives.”
Gates confirmed that Pearson is no longer with TCC. He said the process of naming a new provost will extend into next year.
The Nov. 20 TCC board meeting included a closed-session agenda item for trustees to discuss the “TCC Connect Investigation Report.” Gates declined to comment on the item and said TCC does not comment on personnel matters.
McKinnon Rice is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
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