Chen v. Univ. of Dayton
| Docket Number | C. A. 29781 |
| Decision Date | 03 November 2023 |
| Citation | 2023 Ohio 4002 |
| Parties | LIJIAN CHEN PH.D. Appellant v. UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON Appellee |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
1
2023-Ohio-4002
LIJIAN CHEN PH.D. Appellant
v.
UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON Appellee
C. A. No. 29781
Court of Appeals of Ohio, Second District, Montgomery
November 3, 2023
Civil Appeal from Common Pleas Court Trial Court Case No. 2021 CV 00238
MARC D. MEZIBOV & DENNIS A. GLEASON, Attorneys for Appellant
EVAN T. PRIESTLE & BRIAN G. DERSHAW, Attorneys for Appellee
OPINION
LEWIS, J.
{¶ 1} Plaintiff-Appellant Lijian Chen, Ph.D., appeals from the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the University of Dayton ("UD") on his breach of contract
claim.[1] He argues that the trial court erred in denying his Crim.R. 56(F) motion, in concluding that he had been required to exhaust UD's internal administrative remedies, and in granting judgment as a matter of law to the university on his breach of contract claim. For the following reasons, the trial court's judgment will be affirmed.
I. Facts and Procedural History
{¶ 2} Chen, a naturalized citizen from China, has resided in the United States since 2001. In 2006, Chen obtained his doctoral degree in industrial engineering from the Ohio State University. From August 2006 to July 2013, he taught engineering at the University of Louisville.
{¶ 3} In August 2014, UD hired Chen as an assistant professor of operations management, a tenure-track position in the Department of Management Information Systems, Operations Management, and Decision Sciences ("MOD") in the School of Business Administration ("SBA"). Chen was eligible to apply for tenure in the fall of 2019.
A. Pre-Tenure Annual Reviews
{¶ 4} The SBA Promotion, Tenure, and Faculty Review ("PT&FR") Policies and Procedures govern the process for promotion and tenure in the SBA. Beginning the second year, untenured faculty members receive annual reviews "intended to provide performance feedback to such faculty with respect to his/her progress toward achieving tenure and promotion." Chen Dep., Ex. B., Section 2.1. The annual review involves a multi-step process:
-
Approx. Date
Activity
End of October
Dean's office notifies untenured faculty member to prepare documentation for annual review
1 week after spring classes begin
Untenured faculty member submits material to department chair
5 weeks after spring classes begin
Department PT&FR Committee conducts review and submits evaluation to the SBA dean via the department chair.
Department chair prepares and submits a separate evaluation to the dean
10 weeks after spring classes begin
SBA PT&FR Committee provides evaluation to the dean
14 weeks after spring classes begin
The SBA dean communicates his/her evaluation to the candidate, department chair, department PT&FR Committee, and SBA PT&FR Committee
See Chen Dep., Ex. B, Section 2.1.
{¶ 5} The criteria used for evaluation are addressed in Section 4 of the PT&FR policy manual. Since 2017, faculty members are rated in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service as either excellent, very good, good, or unacceptable. Chen Dep., Ex. B, Section 4. Because Chen's petition for promotion and tenure ultimately was denied based on his teaching evaluation, we will focus on the annual reviews of his teaching, as do the parties in their appellate briefs.
{¶ 6} During the Spring 2015 term (Chen's first year), Chen requested an informal performance evaluation. The following spring, he began receiving pre-tenure annual reviews. Chen's reviews identified both strengths and areas of improvement in his
teaching. By his Spring 2016 evaluation, Chen had taught six sections of one course, OPS 301. The MOD PT&FR Committee noted that the student evaluations of Chen's teaching (SET scores) supported the conclusions that Chen took teaching seriously and was interested in his students. The committee noted, however, that his average grade for the course was too high. Chen Dep, Ex. F. The MOD chair had several positive comments but noted that Chen "understands the need to recalibrate his expectations of students and has begun to take steps to do so." Chen Dep., Ex. G. The SBA PT&FR Committee additionally noted that a peer review conducted by Dr. John Kanet of Chen's teaching materials and classroom teaching was "very positive." Chen Dep., Ex. H.
{¶ 7} By the 2017 annual review, Chen had taught two additional classes: OPS 350 and MBA 791. The MOD PT&FR review again found Chen to be "an enthusiastic and diligent teacher who is sincerely interested in student development." It noted improvement in the grade distribution for OPS 301 but said that an "additional but less dramatic decrease" was still needed to meet SBA norms. As for Chen's new classes, the committee recognized "difficulties encountered in offering courses for the first time" and encouraged Chen to "focus on the course topics at hand in OPS 350 and the relevancy of those topics to operations managers." Although noting that improvements were needed, the committee "remained] confident" that Chen was still on track to meet the standard for tenure. Chen Dep., Ex. J.
{¶ 8} The MOD chair had similar comments and suggested that Chen "seek the counsel of his more experienced colleagues to understand better our expectations of undergraduate and graduate business students as well as our curricula." Chen Dep.,
Ex. K. Likewise, the interim dean's review summarized Chen's teaching, saying: "[Y]our teaching record on our faculty indicates that you have worked to become an effective teacher in the OPS 301 course. However, you need to improve your approaches to both the OPS 350 course for majors and the MBA 791 course for graduate students." Chen Dep., Ex. M. Chen indicated during his deposition that he sought advice from three MOD faculty members. Chen Dep. at 88-91.
{¶ 9} In early 2018, Dr. David Salisbury conducted a peer review of Chen's OPS 301 class. Chen Dep. at 170. As part of Chen's 2018 annual review (Chen's third), the MOD PT&FR Committee again found that Chen needed to bring the average GPA in OPS 301 in line with SBA norms. Chen Dep., Ex. N. The Committee review continued:
While the Committee believes that there are improvements needed in the evaluative rigor of his OPS 301 delivery, as well as continued improvements in the delivery of his other two teaching assignments, OPS 350 and MBA 791, it also believes that the effort and enthusiasm evidenced by Professor Chen affords his performance in teaching the potential to be rated good at the time of his tenure decision. To this end, the department faculty will continue to offer assistance and perspective to Professor Chen as he makes the necessary changes.
Chen Dep., Ex. N.
{¶ 10} The MOD chair, Dr. Jayesh Prasad, and the SBA PT&FR Committee had similar comments, both positive and negative, about Chen's teaching. Chen Dep., Ex. O & P. Dr. Prasad noted that an initial peer review of OPS 301 was positive and that
Chen's SET scores for that class were "typically at or above department averages." He stated that Chen "could do better still" regarding his teaching of OPS 350 and MBA 791. The committee also stated that there was "work to be done." However, both found that Chen was making positive progress toward tenure and promotion. Chen Dep, Ex. P. The dean concurred with the 2018 assessment. Chen Dep., Ex. Q. Chen considered his 2017-2018 Term reviews to be "very positive." Chen Dep. 94-96.
B. Additional Peer Evaluations and SET Scores
{¶ 11} Chen taught OPS 350 in the fall of 2018. His SET score in each of the eight categories was lower than the department faculty average. Chen Dep, Ex. S.
{¶ 12} In January 2019, Dr. Charles Wells conducted an informal peer review of Chen's teaching of OPS 350 class. Chen Dep., Ex. T. Wells wrote that Chen was enthusiastic and prepared for class, and that he used interesting examples that seemed to increase in complexity. He further stated, however, that he believed Chen "overestimate[d] the students' abilities," noting that business students possess a different store of knowledge than engineering students. Wells also indicated that a particular example required a "deeper dive" than provided.
{¶ 13} In February 2019, Dr. John Ruggiero, an economics professor, also observed Chen's teaching of OPS 350 and provided a written evaluation. Ruggiero's stated that, "overall, I was impressed with Dr. Chen's teaching abilities and the engagement with the class. I wish other faculty were as enthusiastic as Lance." Chen Dep., Ex. FF.
{¶ 14} Dr. Michael Gorman provided an additional evaluation of Chen's teaching
of OPS 350. Gorman wrote that, after observing two classes, he had "reservations about [Chen's] teaching effectiveness." He summarized his assessment, stating:
In short, Lance has a hard time communicating with and motivating his students. Throughout two lectures, I found coverage to be somewhat inconsistent and generally unclear, and occasionally inaccurate. I saw both an intense over-coverage of some mundane and unimportant assumptions and model details, as well as glossing over imperative and fundamental concepts to be gleaned from the class. As a result, I am not sure students take away from the course the key learnings for which the course is intended.
Chen Dep., Ex. U. In appendices, Gorman provided detailed descriptions of the two classes he attended.
{¶ 15} In addition to OPS 350, Chen continued to teach MBA 791. In November 2018, Dr. Jim Dunne authored a review of Chen's teaching of MBA 791 based on his observations of Chen's teaching the online course in both May-June 2018 and July-August 2018. Chen Dep., Ex. R. Chen served as one of several section instructors for this course, which was developed by Dunne. Dunne identified two "significant concerns" regarding Chen's teaching, including that Chen did not deliver the course as designed and...
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