The American Association of University Professors has sent a letter to Penn State University raising questions about the termination of Altoona campus theater professor Nona Gerard.

"We're very concerned about several issues regarding the dismissal and how it was conducted," said Anita Levy, an associate secretary with AAUP.

Gerard, a tenured professor who had worked for the university since 1988, was fired Monday for grave misconduct.

She had a hearing before the Standing Joint Committee on Tenure in January to answer that charge, as well as an allegation of failure to perform. The panel found unanimously that the university had not proved Gerard failed to perform.

They did find, though, that she had committed grave misconduct by writing e-mails to several colleagues that created a hostile work environment.

By a 3-2 vote, the panel recommended termination. On Monday Penn State President Graham Spanier sent Gerard a letter concurring with that decision.

Gerard, who was directing the Altoona campus spring production, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," was told she had to be out of her office and turn in her keys by 5 p.m. Wednesday. She was not allowed to finish out the semester, and she was not allowed to continue directing the play.

Levy said she could not discuss the association's specific concerns in Gerard's case, except to say the focus is more on how the dismissal occurred than what led up to it.

"We don't make a judgment on the substantive issues of the case," Levy said.

So the question is, why was Gerard hustled off the Penn State campus mid-term?

Typically, unless the faculty member represents a threat to the campus community, that's not normally warranted, Levy said.

"Generally, if there's no such indication of urgency, it is unusual to have a faculty member removed in that manner," she said. "In this particular case, especially given the level of support Professor Gerard had (among students), there didn't seem to be any indication there was a reason to get her off-campus quickly."

AAUP gets about 1,000 complaints each year for various reasons. About 60 of those stem from faculty dismissals.

The association asks for authorization from its general secretary to conduct an investigation in only about five of the 1,000 complaints, Levy said. If authorized, three AAUP faculty members visit the campus in question and study the issue. They then report their findings to the administration and publish a report in the organization's journal, Academe.

Depending on the findings, the institution could be censured, Levy said.

There are about 40 universities that have been censured in the past. Penn State is not one of them.

"There's nothing that we do, per se, to them," Levy said. "We want to avoid censure at all costs. We'd much rather bring about some sort of change to policies that affect the faculty."

There has been no movement by AAUP in Gerard's case other than sending out the initial letter to Penn State's administration.

Penn State's spring break begins tomorrow, and Spanier was out of town yesterday.

University spokesman Tysen Kendig said he could not discuss Gerard's dismissal because it's a personnel matter and that he was unfamiliar with any issues surrounding AAUP's letter.

"Our position on the situation really hasn't changed at all," he said.