The Texas A&M University Faculty Senate voted to approve a resolution of “no confidence” in Chancellor Michael D. McKinney.
The vote on Tuesday was in favor of the resolution was 55-9.
The resolution stated, “The Faculty Senate has no confidence in the leadership of Chancellor Michael D. McKinney and in his willingness to act in the best interest of the faculty and students of the Texas A&M University.”
The decision follows a series of actions and statements from the chancellor that caused people to lose trust in his leadership, said Robert Bednarz, geography professor and speaker of the senate.
The vote comes several weeks after the resignation of Elsa Murano, former University president of Texas A&M. Murano resigned after she received an evaluation from McKinney questioning her leadership abilities.
“The faculty thinks that the chancellor’s decisions are moving the university in the wrong direction,” Bednarz said.
The senate also conducted an online poll, and out of 1,300 faculty members who responded, 85.5 percent said they had “no confidence” in McKinney.
The faculty group has no authority to change policy, and only the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents can hire or fire a chancellor.
Board spokesman Rod Davis declined to comment on the vote.
Bednarz said he felt it was important for the faculty to speak out about this situation.
“If the faculty never goes on record, then it seems like it agrees with what’s going on, or it was too lazy to do anything,” he said. “We can’t have people say, ‘You knew what was happening and you didn’t say anything about it.’”
Not all senate members supported the resolution.
“I opposed the no-confidence vote because I do not believe that it is in the best interest of Texas A&M University,” said accounting professor Bob Strawser.
The Faculty Senate is not the only group to speak out about the chancellor’s actions. The university’s Council of Principal Investigators also drafted a resolution at the end of last month that lists several reasons why the group feels the chancellor’s actions prove he is not qualified for the position.
“The goal was to make a statement to the chancellor, the Board of Regents and administrators that we have lost the confidence and trust in the ability of the chancellor to manage the system,” said Deb Bell-Pedersen, biology professor and chair of the group.
The group represents principal investigators throughout the research community at A&M.
The chancellor’s view on shared governance is listed in the resolution as one of the reasons for the group’s dissension.
Shared governance involves consulting faculty and staff members, administrators and trustees when making a major decision for an institution.
“I feel that faculty input must be heard and considered, but once a decision is made, whether we agree with it or not, we must do our best to make that decision work,” Strawser said. “In my opinion, this is shared governance.”
There is not now , nor has there ever been shared governance.
The Faculty Senate vote has no lawful authority or merit.
Empty words, have never been heard