Board denies termination appeal by former faculty

At the ETSU Board of Trustees meeting Friday, the board unanimously voted to deny former tenured faculty member Dr. Anthony Masino’s petition to appeal his termination by the university.

Masino, former ETSU associate professor and accountancy department assistant chair, was accused of creating a hostile education environment for a student he dated after their breakup. These findings were the result of an internal investigation by the university in May 2018 after the woman filed a Title IX complaint. Masino appealed the ruling in June 2018.

“In 2018, an ETSU faculty member was accused of violating a university policy,” ETSU spokesperson Joe Smith said. “An investigation took place, and a committee of faculty found by a preponderance of the evidence that the faculty member did in fact violate the university policy. At that point, the faculty member was terminated on July 31, 2019. The faculty member petitioned the board of trustees to hear his appeal.”

A special meeting of ETSU’s Executive Committee was held Thursday, in which the committee reviewed the termination appeal from Masino. Committee members reviewed evidence, including a letter released by Tennessee’s Office of the Attorney General that recommended the denial of Masino’s appeal.

According to the letter, the student was in his class for the fall 2016 semester. Their intimate relationship began prior to and continued throughout that semester, and their relationship lasted until January 2018.

Other items addressed in the letter includes evidence of romantic relationships Masino had with three other ETSU students, Masino’s assurance to the student there was “nothing wrong” with their relationship because he helped draft ETSU’s dating policy and his involvement in the derailment of ETSU’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance session in spring 2018 after the breakup.

The letter said President Noland’s determination was well-supported by evidence, and no state or federal laws nor ETSU policies were violated during the process of Masino’s termination.

A report from that executive committee meeting was added to the agenda at the beginning of the Board of Trustees meeting Friday. The board voted to deny the petition to appeal. Masino was not present at the meeting.

“After review of the matter, the executive committee recommends that Mr. Masino’s petition to appeal the president’s decision to discharge Mr. Masino from employment with ETSU should be denied,” ETSU Board of Trustees member David Golden said. “The executive committee are of the opinion that the university followed the proper procedures and correctly applied the law. Therefore, based on the executive committee’s recommendation, I move the board to deny Mr. Masino’s petition to appeal.”

In other business, the College of Medicine was approved for a 2% tuition increase, and the College of Pharmacy was approved for a 1.5% increase for the 2020-21 academic year. Cost studies were conducted for both, according to ETSU Board of Trustees Member Steven DeCarlo.

The board also approved an increase in housing and food service non-mandatory charges for the 2020-21 academic year, which included a $35-$100 increase per term for residence halls and a $60-$75 increase per term for apartments. The adoption of the Policy Development and Administrative Rulemaking policy and the Public Records Rule were also approved.  

During the President’s Report, Noland proposed the creation of a Committee for 125: Chapter II to continue the visioning and planning initiative for ETSU’s 125^th anniversary in 2036.