College of Education faculty passed two separate votes of no confidence in Chancellor Randy Woodson and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Warwick Arden over how NC State is handling the discovery of chemical contaminants in Poe Hall. Faculty did not pass a vote of no confidence in Dean of the College of Education Paola Sztajn.
The vote is a symbolic gesture. Only the Board of Governors can dismiss the chancellor, and the chancellor has the power to dismiss top administrators per UNC System Policy.
According to a report sent to faculty by a member of the College of Education Coordinating Committee and obtained by Technician containing the results, 65 of the 99 full-time faculty in the College of Education voted on the three motions.
Thirty-five College of Education faculty who participated voted no confidence in Woodson. Thirty-eight participants voted no confidence in Arden. The motion against Sztajn failed: Thirty-two participants voted no confidence, 23 voted confidence and 10 abstained.
NC State did not immediately respond to Technician’s request for comment.
This is the first time in University history faculty have passed a vote of no confidence in the chancellor. The closest parallel circumstance was in 2003, when the Faculty Senate voted to censure then-Chancellor Marye Anne Fox for her choice to fire two top administrators, Technician previously reported. A censure is similar to a vote of no confidence in that it carries no disciplinary power.
The report said some faculty members did not support the motion.
“After emailing the invitation, a number of faculty members expressed via email that they were not in favor of the motion, shared varying views concerning why the motion was premature, and voiced a need to consider all Poe Hall faculty in such a vote (i.e., Psychology),” the report said.
As previously reported by Technician, faculty met Friday to to put in motions to hold a vote of no confidence. Faculty did not take the vote at the meeting. The report said 76 faculty members attended the meeting to consider the call for a vote of no confidence.
After the meeting ended, faculty members received a link to a Google form to vote on the three motions. Voting required an NC State email account, but was anonymous.
The report said the College Coordinating Committee will reconvene to assess how confidence in leadership can be restored.
“It is clear from this vote that faculty are divided,” the report said. “We view our role as members of the faculty who can help facilitate this process and work towards actionable measures that will restore confidence and community within the College of Education.”
4:33 p.m., Feb. 12 update:
Woodson released a letter Monday afternoon addressing the vote of no confidence, in which he stated he remains confident in the University’s process and that he is committed to maintaining the community’s trust in University leadership.
“One of the particular concerns that has been raised is transparency about our process,” Woodson said in the letter. “To this point, it has been our approach to reach out to the community only if and when we have new information to share. And, each time we’ve received updates, we’ve shared them with you. In particular, within hours of receiving the initial report from our consultant last week, we made sure it was in your inboxes.”
Woodson said in the letter that the University will be reaching out more regularly with updates on Poe Hall moving forward.
“Moving forward, if you feel confident in one thing, I hope it’s the fact that the university remains committed to doing the right things to ensure this is a safe place to work, learn and live,” Woodson stated.
