By Phillip Lentsch–
An online poll shows A&S faculty are leaning towards a vote of no confidence in President James Ramsey, as discussed at the Arts & Sciences faculty assembly meeting on March 25.
At the last faculty senate meeting on March 2, members were notified that they were to send out a poll to their departments/colleges that would survey Ramsey’s leadership. All faculty were advised to complete the survey, and the results would be collected and presented at the next faculty senate meeting on April 6. Based on what the polls show, Pam Feldhoff – who serves as the faculty senate’s chair on the U of L Board of Trustees – will vote accordingly.
This recent A&S faculty assembly meeting did provide an update on the data collection of the survey. There were 309 total responses to the poll, with 239 full-time A&S faculty and 70 part-time responding. There were a total of 418 full-time A&S faculty members that received the listserv survey. Overall, the turnout among A&S (full and part-time) faculty tallied around 45 percent.
Of those polled, 75 percent of the full-time A&S faculty wanted a no-confidence vote in Ramsey. That number jumped to 80 percent among part-time faculty.
Despite these numbers, the 45 percent turnout is not a fully representative decision. This A&S faculty assembly meeting was simply presenting the results from A&S. All of U of L’s colleges will report their survey results at the next faculty senate meeting on April 6.
Earlier this week, Ramsey said he’d meet with every member of the Board of Trustees individually to discuss refocusing on the students.
“I am disappointed, however, that our university has been defined by the friction among those entrusted with running it,” Ramsey said. “Our students, donors, alumni, faculty and staff deserve better.”
According to philosophy department chair David Owen, the survey was tailored to differentiate full-time and part-time faculty responses since both are represented differently within the faculty senate. Owen was responsible for distributing the survey.
Even though the 45 percent turnout may seem small, some faculty members believe it’s a solid result for an online poll.
“Any online survey that gets over a 40 percent turnout is always significant,” sociology chair Ryan Schroeder said.
Six sitting members on the Board plan on voting in confidence of Ramsey, while seven will vote no-confidence. Five members – Jonathan Blue, William Summers, Victoria Allen, Pam Feldhoff, and Angela Lewis-Klein – are currently undecided.
