Ranyard v. Board of Regents

• Citation: 708 F.2d 1235
• Decision Date: 23 May 1983
• Docket Number: No. 82-1781,82-1781
• Parties: 11 Ed. Law Rep. 831 Redge RANYARD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BOARD OF REGENTS, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

Page 1235

708 F.2d 1235

11 Ed. Law Rep. 831

Redge RANYARD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BOARD OF REGENTS, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 82-1781.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Dec. 3, 1982.

Decided May 23, 1983.

Cheryl S. Redfield, Springfield, Ill., for plaintiff-appellant.

Mark Sargent, Giffin, Winning, Lindner, Newkirk, Cohen & Bodewes, Springfield, Ill., for defendant-appellee.

Before CUMMINGS, Chief Judge, CUDAHY, Circuit Judge, and TIMBERS, Senior Circuit Judge. ^*

TIMBERS, Circuit Judge.

Redge Ranyard, formerly a professor at Sangamon State University, Springfield, Illinois, appeals from a judgment entered in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, J. Waldo Ackerman, District Judge, dismissing Ranyard's diversity contract action against the Board of Regents of the State of Illinois (Board).

Ranyard claims that the district court erred in granting the Board's motion for summary judgment and in dismissing the action. The complaint alleged that the Board had breached its contractual obligations to him on two occasions--first, in 1973, in denying him tenure despite the contrary recommendation of the President of Sangamon State University; and, second, in 1976, in denying him certain procedures required by the governing contract in the course of refusing to grant him tenure. ¹

We hold that Ranyard's contractual claims are without merit and, in the alternative, that the Eleventh Amendment bars actions for damages against the Board of Regents in the federal court. We affirm the judgment dismissing the action, but on the grounds set forth in this opinion.

I.

We turn directly to Ranyard's breach of contract claims. ² First, he alleges that the Board of Regents breached its contractual obligation by overruling a recommendation by the President of Sangamon State University in 1973 to grant him tenure. Ranyard does not claim that he ever received a contract guaranteeing him tenure. Nor does he dispute the fact that, according to the Governing Policy of the Regency Universities of the State of Illinois, faculty members in his position, with fewer than four years prior experience, normally would serve a probationary period of seven years before a tenure decision would be reached. Governing Policy, Art. IV, Sec. 5(B). Rather, he points to an accompanying provision in the same Governing Policy which states that "at any time during this [probationary] period the university may offer tenure." In effect, Ranyard argues that the Governing Policy became part of his employment contract and that the Board's failure to grant him tenure, despite the University's "offer", breached his contract. We believe that Ranyard misconceives the nature of the Board of Regents' authority.

Despite the provision in the Governing Policy that the University may "offer" tenure, we think it is clear from reading the document as a whole that the Board retains ultimate control over all faculty appointments. For example, the Governing Policy states elsewhere that:

"The Board of Regents is charged by law with full responsibility for governing the universities. Although the Board properly and necessarily delegates authority to designated officers and agencies, it cannot divest itself of its ultimate legal responsibility. Accordingly, the Board expressly reserves to itself the power to act on its own initiative in all matters affecting the Regency Universities. The Board will not act upon its own initiative, however, in any matter for which these policies require university participation, without first obtaining the advice and recommendations of the presidents...."

Art. V, Sec. 5.

The Governing Policy elsewhere provides that:

"The Board recognizes also that faculty judgment must be utilized in the areas of faculty employment and promotion status (appointment, reappointment, non-reappointment, promotion, the offering of tenure, and dismissal) and those aspects of student life which relate to the educational process. In such areas, however, budgets, manpower limitations or policies of other bodies having jurisdiction over institutional matters may impose limits on the utilization of faculty advice."

Art. IV, Sec. 6.

The University exercises only advisory authority over personnel decisions. If we accept appellant's contention that the Governing Policy became incorporated in his contract, then we must emphasize that the Board of Regents retained virtually complete discretion regarding tenure.

In view of the Board's overarching authority, the isolated phrase relied on by appellant--"at any time during this period the University may offer tenure"--suggests that the University could broach the matter of a faculty member's tenure with the Board of Regents even during a faculty member's probationary period. The term "offer" thus was used in the sense of an early invitation for tenure consideration. The Board of Regents, however, retained the final authority on tenure decisions.

We hold that there is no merit in Ranyard's first breach of contract claim.

We also find Ranyard's second breach of contract claim to be without merit. He asserts that, even if he had no contractual right to tenure, University procedures, approved by the Board of Regents, guaranteed him a fair tenure decision. After deliberations on Ranyard's status in 1976, the University Tenure Decision Committee recommended that Ranyard not be granted tenure. Ranyard objected to the recommendation, claiming that a letter from a colleague attacking his character had unduly influenced the Committee's recommendation. ³ Pursuant to University procedures which had been sanctioned by the Board of Regents, Ranyard appealed his claim of denial of due process to the University Hearing Board. The Hearing Board found that inclusion of the letter in the deliberations by the Tenure Decision Committee violated Ranyard's due process rights and recommended that Ranyard be allowed a new hearing before the Tenure Decision Committee.

The University Code, however, limits the Hearing Board to an advisory role:

"On appeal, a decision of the Hearing Board may be affirmed, modified or reversed by the President. In the President's decision due regard must be payed to the correctness of the procedures, the reasonableness of the sanctions, and the interests of the university community."

The President reviewed the decision of the Hearing Board and reversed it. This was within the President's discretion. The Board of Regents supported the President's action.

We hold that there is no merit in Ranyard's second breach of contract claim.

II.

This brings us to the alternative ground for our affirmance of the judgment dismissing the action, namely, the Eleventh Amendment. ⁴

The Eleventh Amendment precludes actions brought in the federal court by citizens against state entities. To determine whether the Eleventh Amendment bar is applicable to this diversity action, we first must inquire whether the Board of Regents can be considered a state entity for Eleventh Amendment purposes.

Although there is no generally accepted test for determining whether a state entity is an arm of the state, the Supreme Court in Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 337 (1979), indicated that the critical inquiry is whether a judgment would be paid from public funds in the state treasury. Among the subsidiary factors to be considered are whether the state entity can sue and be sued, whether it performs an essential governmental function, and whether it enjoys a substantial degree of political independence from the state. Despite the varying concatenation of factors, most state universities have been held to be alter egos of the state and thus immune from suit. E.g., Ronwin v. Shapiro, 657 F.2d 1071, 1073-74 (9th Cir.1981); Skehan v. Board of Trustees of Bloomsburg State College, 590 F.2d 470, 488-91 (3rd Cir.1978), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 832 (1979); Korgich v. Regents of New Mexico School of Mines, 582 F.2d 549, 551-52 (10th Cir.1978); Long v. Richardson, 525 F.2d 74, 75-79 (6th Cir.1975); Vaughn v. Regents of University of California, 504 F.Supp. 1349, 1351-54 (E.D.Cal.1981). But see Goss v. San Jacinto Junior College, 588 F.2d 96, 98-99 (5th Cir.1979); Scott v. University of Delaware, 385 F.Supp. 937, 944 (D.Del.1974).

While few would dispute that stewardship over higher education performs an essential governmental function, Ranyard successfully argued to the magistrate below that the Illinois State Board of Regents had sufficient indicia of independence to be considered distinct from the state. In particular, Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 144 Sec. 307 (1971) grants the Board power "to sue and be sued, provided that any suit against the Board based upon a claim sounding in tort must be filed in the Court of Claims." That limited autonomy, however, has not sufficed to remove other state agencies from the Eleventh Amendment's protection. E.g., Korgich, supra, 582 F.2d at 551; Vaughn, supra, 504 F.Supp. at 1353.

We believe that the inquiry suggested by Quern is broader. Despite the Board of Regents' capacity to sue and be sued, certain other factors appear persuasive to us in determining its status as an arm of the state. The Board is appointed by the governor and serves at his pleasure. Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 144 Sec. 302. Cf. Goss, supra, 588 F.2d at 99 n. 5 (members of that board were elected at large from the community). Furthermore, the Board does not control its own budget, but is required to submit requests to the state Board of Education. Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 144 Sec. 188. Compare Korgich, supra, 582 F.2d at 551 (emphasizing that the school's dependence upon state funding is a crucial factor in Eleventh Amendment analysis) with Goss, supra, 588 F.2d at 99 n. 5 (college was empowered to issue revenue bonds and levy ad valorem taxes). We are satisfied that the Board of Regents is not fiscally independent, and that a monetary judgment assessed against it would have to be paid out of the state's treasury.

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