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

Thu Dec 7 22:54:31 EST 2023

Respectfully, the Academic Senate voted on Wednesday to bring the no confidence resolutions to ballot.

All Senators - Faculty, Admin, Students - got to engage in the process of debate. There were friendly amendments accepted. Attempts to strike numerous passages were made and failed. An attempt to table the Johnson resolution was made and failed.

Yes, the bylaws obviously need to include something about No Confidence Votes in the future. There is also a need to include something about caucuses<https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/understanding_a_caucus> as well so that caucuses will not be regarded with such suspicion.

In the meantime, the Senate follows Robert’s Rules of Order (Bylaw 12, Section 1). Robert’s Rules of Order does not have “votes of no confidence,”<https://robertsrules.com/frequently-asked-questions/> rather it is simply a motion. Motions can be brought from any Senator, regardless of whether they have consulted a caucus.

The resolutions were posted to the Academic Senate website at 7:27 AM on November 28. I requested time on the agenda on November 21 at 3:57 PM, noting that I would present on the findings of the faculty caucus. The results of the faculty caucus were the two resolutions of no confidence. The Senate Charter states that the items of the agenda “shall be circulated to members of the Academic Senate, the Faculty, and any others designated by the Executive Committee at least five days prior to a Senate meeting at which such recommendations are to be considered” (Section 5, Part c).

A single faculty member can and has brought forward resolutions of no confidence in the past: Dr. Michael Jerryson brought one against Provost Martin Abraham. Mark Vopat brought one against the Administration in regard to COVID. The issue of No Confidence votes was debated after Dr. Vopat’s resolution — yet the bylaws did not change. In fact, Senate minutes from 2016<https://digital.maag.ysu.edu/xmlui/handle/1989/12014> show a proposal was put forward for outlining the procedures for a no confidence vote in 2016… and the bylaws did not change. The inability to successfully amend the bylaws does not mean that this vote should be postponed.

As stated in Section 2, Part D, Subsection 2C, "The Executive Committee prepares the agenda for Senate meetings and transact such other ongoing routine business as may be directed to them.” I trust that the Executive Committee is rational enough to not allow random spurious no confidence resolutions as they put the Senate agenda together.

If Senators feel that voting yes would create a slippery slope that puts all at risk, I would encourage them to vote no or to vote to abstain. I do not feel that it is right or proper to delay the votes of no confidence so that bylaws can be amended, especially since they have not been amended in the years that have passed in previous no confidence resolutions.

I hope that this does not become an email thread with back-and-forth about the votes. The fact is that the opportunity to put a stop to holding votes on the resolutions was during the Senate Meeting on Wednesday. The majority of Senators held that the votes need to be held by ballot.

Let’s let the procedure move forward.

Thank you for your consideration,
Mandy Fehlbaum
BCLASSE At-Large Senator

Amanda Fehlbaum, Ph.D.
She/Her/Hers
Associate Professor of Sociology
Director of Women’s and Gender Studies
Youngstown State University
DeBartolo Hall 437
Youngstown, OH 44555
afehlbaum at ysu.edu

On Dec 7, 2023, at 2:27 PM, Jennifer A Pintar <japintar at ysu.edu> wrote:

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/>
<Outlook-A red and .png>
________________________________
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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