[YSU-Academic-Senate] Important: Amended No Confidence Resolutions

[Jennifer A Pintar]

The precedence that is being set leaves every single one of us in jeopardy of having a Resolution of No Confidence brought against us at any point if only a subgroup of Senators gathers and writes away.


Academic Senators,



I want to thank you all for the dialogue at yesterday’s Academic Senate meeting.  I write today to express my continued concern over the way the No Confidence Resolutions were developed and brought to Senate.  Please allow me to explain.



  1.  A meeting was held by “invite only” to just faculty members of Academic Senate.  I don’t buy the story that all Senators couldn’t be invited because there was no authority to call an entire Senate meeting because students and administrative members were specifically excluded.  In other words, the limited few invited did not have a sampling of all membership categories.
  2.  Without a subcommittee of Senate being formally pulled together to write, review, and edit the resolution, it was presented with only one week notice for individual review.  It is not clear if Senators had time to discuss with those they represent within that one week or if they voted without consultation.



Most importantly, this establishes an extremely problematic precedent that any subgroup of Senators could gather and write a Resolution of No Confidence on any employee or group of employees on campus.



Could it be that a group of Senators may not like the high DFW rates in a faculty member’s course and meet with a select group by invite only and then bring a disparaging No Confidence Resolution to Senate without ever fact checking or discussing with representation from all Senators and that faculty member?  Is that the direction for Senate?  Even if that resolution against the faculty member with high DFW rates is voted down, hasn’t that created negative publicity for that faculty member?



I ask that you take a step back from voting and carry this through in the same manner as other matters in Senate.  This request to step back is NOT about minimizing voices or suggesting that resolutions of No Confidence should not exist when Senate deems necessary – this is about the process.  The irony that the Resolution about a process is not following a process of its own does not escape me.  But the main reason is the precedence that is being set leaves every single one of us in jeopardy of having a Resolution of No Confidence brought against us at any point if only a subgroup of Senators gathers and writes away.  And since there are no rules, could it be a single Senator that gets a Resolution of No Confidence on the publicly available Academic Senate agenda?



Going through with this without a formal process in place first may be a reason for a small group of Senators to gather and deliver a resolution with a vote of No Confidence against Academic Senate.



Let’s do the right thing and hold off on the Resolution until a formal process is in place that protects us all.  Thank you for your consideration.



Jennifer Pintar, PhD, MPH | Vice Provost

Office of Academic Affairs

Youngstown State University

1 Tressel Way, Youngstown, OH 44555

330.941.4628 | japintar at ysu.edu<mailto:petethepenguin at ysu.edu> | explore.ysu.edu<http://explore.ysu.edu/>

[A red and black logo  Description automatically generated]

________________________________
From: YSU-Academic-Senate <ysu-academic-senate-bounces at lists.ysu.edu> on behalf of Edmund C Ickert <ecickert at ysu.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, December 6, 2023 11:05 PM
To: ysu-academic-senate at lists.ysu.edu <ysu-academic-senate at lists.ysu.edu>
Subject: [YSU-Academic-Senate] Important: Amended No Confidence Resolutions

Everyone,

You will find two attachments on this email:
No Confidence in Presidential Search Process Resolution
No Confidence in President Designee Bill Johnson Resolution

Both of these resolutions are the amended version following today's senate meeting and contain the agreed upon revisions.  A copy of each of these amended resolutions can also be found at the senate website (under the senate meeting heading for 12/6/23):
https://ysu.edu/academic-senate/2023-2024-meeting-agendas-and-minutes
[https://ysu.edu/sites/all/themes/ysu/images/y.png]<https://ysu.edu/academic-senate/2023-2024-meeting-agendas-and-minutes>
2023-2024 Meeting Agendas and Minutes<https://ysu.edu/academic-senate/2023-2024-meeting-agendas-and-minutes>
Archive of Agenda and Minutes Academic Year 2022-2023 Previous Meeting Agendas and Minutes can be found on the Digital.Maag Repository.
ysu.edu
Senators should review these documents before casting their vote.  If you have any difficulties with accessing these amended resolutions, feel free to reach out to me.


Edmund C Ickert, PT, DPT, PhD, CLT

Certified Lymphedema Therapist

Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy

Department of Graduate Studies in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Secretary, Academic Senate

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH 44555

Cushwa Hall, B326

P: 330-941-1326

F: 330-941-1898
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