Guillermo Gonzalez, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, is appealing to the Board of Regents concerning the university’s decision to deny him tenure.

Gonzalez’s tenure battle began in March when he was denied tenure at all levels of review, from the physics and astronomy department chair to the executive vice president and provost. Recommendations from the five levels of review were passed on to President Gregory Geoffroy, who affirmed the decision to deny tenure.

Controversy began to surface as Gonzalez’s supporters, including his fellows at think tank Discovery Institute, accused the university of letting Gonzalez’s belief in intelligent design influence the decision, an accusation denied by university officials.

“That evaluation was based on an assessment of the excellence of his teaching, service, scholarly research publications and research funding in astronomy, using standards and expectations set by the department faculty,” stated a May 14 press release from the university.

The Discovery Institute Web site has encouraged Gonzalez’s supporters to call university representatives and voice their dissatisfaction with the handling of the case, but Executive Director of University Relations John McCarroll said he, personally, has not received a huge response to the decision.

“I have not personally seen a lot of reaction to that,” he said.

He said he has received only a few e-mails.

Gonzalez authored a book, “The Privileged Planet,” which was published in 2004, about the intelligent design theory. He presented lectures promoting the theory and his book.

This prompted a signed statement, drafted by some of Gonzalez’s peers in the physics and astronomy department, criticizing the portrayal of intelligent design as scientifically sound.

A number of Gonzalez’s supporters say this statement, signed by hundreds of staff and faculty at Iowa State, Iowa and Northern Iowa, may have had undue influence on the university’s tenure decision.

On June 1, Geoffroy informed Gonzalez that his appeal for tenure had been denied. He issued a statement explaining his decision.

“I independently concluded that he simply did not show the trajectory of excellence that we expect in a candidate seeking tenure in physics and astronomy – one of our strongest academic programs,” Geoffrey wrote.

According to an article on the Discovery Institute’s Web site, on June 19 Gonzalez filed a notice with President Geoffroy that he is appealing Geoffroy’s decision to the Iowa Board of Regents, and the appeal is currently pending.

Discovery Institute fellow John West said the think tank has filed around $1,500 in open records requests of the university to determine whether there is any evidence of wrongdoing on the university’s part.

If Gonzalez is denied tenure by the Board of Regents, he is entitled to appeal the decision to district court, but the board is the last agency appeal available.

If his appeals are denied, he will likely leave the university after one final year.

“That is essentially the end of their academic career at ISU,” McCarroll said.

If Gonzalez’s tenure decision is overturned and the application for tenure accepted, West said his understanding is that Gonzalez would remain at the university.