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No confidence vote shot down
Faculty to work with administration to resolve issues regarding lack of due process
An attempt by some members of the faculty to have a vote of no confidence against SCSU administrators was rejected Tuesday in an emergency faculty senate meeting.
Members of the faculty association instead voted on working with the administration to address several issues. This will especially focus on the lack of due process for faculty members who face being fired.
Andrew Larkin, president-elect of the faculty association, said the association's members who had gathered for the meeting had voted overwhelmingly in favor of working with the administration.
"Some members had brought in a draft version (of a vote of no confidence)," he said. "That was never placed on the floor."
The current president of the association, Theresia Fisher, had earlier met with SCSU President Roy Saigo to discuss faculty discontent over the lack of due process. It was agreed between them that some sort of collaboration was needed to resolve the issues.
When this suggestion was brought to the floor, most of the members agreed to it.
"There was one substantive vote on whether or not to meet and take the steps (to resolve the issues)," Larkin said. "It was passed overwhelmingly. (But) there were some members (in favor of a vote of) no confidence."
Faculty association representatives will meet with Saigo and other administrators Thursday afternoon to discuss the issues at hand. But one condition faculty members will bring to the discussion is the reinstatement of two history department professors who were recently terminated. Faculty members claim the two were not given due process when they had their positions taken from them, purportedly for academic fraud.
"If they are not reinstated, then the discussion will not go very much further," Larkin said. "(The reinstatement) is a condition."
The faculty association is adamant that the two be reinstated as it views the lack of due process a serious concern. The two, Larkin said, are highly qualified faculty members.
"The (faculty association) has an obligation to the university (to ensure) that these faculty members remain," Larkin said.
Talks with the university will also involve a representative from both the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and the Inter Faculty Organization.
"We will discuss (on Thursday) how we are going to proceed in terms of discussing procedures for due process," Larkin said.
Saigo, meanwhile, is happy that faculty association members had elected to work with university administrators to resolve the issues at hand.
"The president is very pleased with the outcome of the meeting (with Fisher)," said Lisa Foss, SCSU director of marketing and communications. "(Saigo and Fisher) reached an agreement to meet. They put forth a letter (on the possibility of discussions being held) which the faculty approved."
Foss said that Saigo viewed the agreement to discuss things as a "very positive step" in the right direction.
"This is much more positive for the university," Foss said.
The two sides will meet Thursday as part of a regular faculty-administration "meet-and-confer" session.
Leslie Andres can be reached at: [email protected]
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