To: Dr. Kenneth A. Yowell, President
CC to: Mr. Douglas R. Murray, Chairman, Board of Trustees
CC to: Dr. Mindy McNutt, Vice President for Academics
From: Academic Senate of Edison Community College
Brad Reed, Academic Senate Chair
March 27, 2009
Dr. Yowell,
On March 27, 2009, in a closed meeting pursuant to Senate bylaws Article V, Section 6, paragraph 4, the members present of Academic Senate voted no confidence in your leadership, as evidenced by the mass notification of potential non-renewal of faculty and administrative contracts and its impact on the Edison community and its students, by a vote of 44-1, with four members abstaining.
This vote is not to be construed as a lack of confidence in the institution, nor in the mission of Edison Community College, which the members of Senate passionately support.
Specific concerns addressed in the discussion are:
1. That a lack of transparency of process or of communication with staff leads to distrust of the President's leadership, intentions and ability to direct the college in a vibrant and sustainable manner.
2. That the noted lack of communication is a recurrent issue, and over time indicates a lack of trust on your part of the faculty and staff to be willing partners and contributors to the direction and mission of the college.
3. That you have acted inconsistently, making dire predictions about the financial health of the institution while at the same time condoning and even sponsoring activities that are not critical to the mission of the college.
4. That established channels of review, eg., program reviews, are not used to their best potential, and that other, secretive "evaluation" methods are given precedence, even when those other methods can be shown to contain flawed data and assumptions.
5. That no long-term, consistent and transparent evaluation of value added to the institution is employed at any level, whether programmatic, service, or employee, and therefore decisions about discontinuation of programs or positions must necessarily be capricious, based on limited information, or on flawed assumptions, which may or may not be in the best interest of the mission of the college, nor in the service of our students and community.
6. That faculty and staff are willing to work with the administration to solve problems of program viability and other concerns, but only when they are part of an open, transparent and cooperative environment.
It is the hope of the members that this vote of no confidence underscores the concerns of the faculty and staff about the lack of clarity of vision for Edison as an institution in these challenging times; that you and the Board of Trustees understand that we are willing, enthusiastic and creative partners for solutions, but whose morale is at a low point with no sign of recovery; and that change is necessary.
Brad Reed, Chair
Academic Senate
Edison Community College