A tenured UW-Madison physiology professor convicted of child sex crimes was dismissed from the university after the UW System Board of Regents unanimously voted to remove him Friday.
Roberto Coronado was convicted of three counts of child sexual assault in 2005, according to court records, and faces prison time. His firing came at the same time as the Regents proposed instituting a new set of procedures to expedite the review and dismissal of faculty and staff charged with felonies.
According to Regent President David Walsh the Procedures for Dismissal of Faculty in Special Cases would apply only to faculty members charged with egregious and heinous activity.
'Recognize that this is very narrow'in other words it only applies when the faculty member or the employees engaged in felonies,' Walsh said.
He said he hopes the process, which is designed to take a total of 60 days, will only have to be used once or twice per year.
Coronado was dismissed without these expedited procedures in place, a process that was eased by the former professor's guilty plea and conviction, Walsh said.
He said future proceedings to discipline those charged with felonies might not be so simple.
'Most cases where there's felonious conduct, we won't be able to prove it until after the conviction,' Walsh said.
According to a UW System statement, under the proposed policy, the provost of the campus where the offender works would initiate the investigation and the chancellor would submit a recommendation of disciplinary measures to the Regents. The Regents would then review and approve or deny the measures.
The procedures will be reviewed and commented on by UW System faculty and must gain legislative approval before becoming official, Walsh said.
'This is a process that will hopefully lead to some collegiality in decision making,' Walsh said.
