Arbiters and faculty bodies pushed back this month against administrative personnel moves at two public universities, underscoring rising trusteeship and shared‑governance battles. A faculty panel found Texas A&M’s firing of Professor Melissa McCoul over a classroom gender lesson improper and ruled against the termination. Separately, an independent arbitrator ordered Portland State University to reinstate 10 nontenure‑track faculty and provide back pay after finding administrators failed to follow shared‑governance procedures in budget‑cut decisions. Both rulings emphasize that contractual shared‑governance mechanisms and continuous appointments constrain administrations’ authority during retrenchment. Union leaders and academic senators hailed the decisions as rebukes of administrative overreach; university officials said they would review legal options. The cases signal higher scrutiny of program cuts and personnel moves as campuses trim costs.