Latest communication from J.Kline - 

"it has been determined that special consideration will be given to current Watkins employees regardless of their position of faith."

Consideration is not employment...

From: J. Kline <jkline@watkins.edu>
Date: Sat, Feb 1, 2020 at 4:23 PM
Subject: Faculty & Staff Update Re: Belmont Merger
To: faculty <faculty@watkins.edu>, staff <staff@watkins.edu>

Dear faculty and staff,

I wanted to share the following with you from Belmont, as part of our ongoing conversations regarding details of the merger.

Belmont and Watkins will be evaluating faculty and staff needs based on the assimilation of Watkins into Belmont. This process will likely take several months, and despite what is being reported no decisions have been made. Existing Watkins faculty and staff will certainly be given first opportunity to fill any new positions of need.

Because we recognize current Watkins employees could not control nor anticipate merging with a faith-based institution, it has been determined that special consideration will be given to current Watkins employees regardless of their position of faith.

This exception to Belmont’s hiring policy is only being made due to the nature of merging institutions and out of Belmont’s commitment to care for the Watkins community.

We will send more updates on the transition in the coming weeks, and of course you are always welcome to reach out to me with any additional questions.

Sincerely,

JK

--
J. Kline, Ph.D.
President