The Faculty Senate at Fayetteville State University on Friday approved a “no confidence” resolution regarding the leadership of Provost Monica Terrell Leach, the school’s chief academic officer.
The vote was 32-4, with another eight senators abstaining, Chairwoman Zahra Shekarkhar said. Including the senators, more than 150 people were in the meeting.
The vote follows growing discontent among the faculty with Leach and the administration, several faculty members told CityView over the past two weeks. Their final straw was when the university began moving forward with a plan to increase the standard teaching workload from three classes per semester to four classes.
The Faculty Senate has no power to discipline or fire Leach or any other administrator. But the vote is an important signal, Shekarkhar said after the meeting.
“It’s an indication that the majority of the Faculty Senate feels that the provost is not competent to be leading us in the role as chief academic officer,” she said. “We understand that we don’t have the power to remove anyone from a position. But at this time we would like to hear how folks like the chancellor and the Board of Trustees respond now that they have this information.
“And hopefully there’s a path forward we can work toward to try to get the issues described in the memo and the resolution resolved.”
Why are the professors upset?
The resolution lists 13 complaints. Some of its assertions:
The resolution concludes, “Therefore, be it resolved, that the faculty of Fayetteville State University hereby express no confidence in Provost Dr. Monica Leach's ability to lead effectively, respectfully, and in a manner that supports the mission and values of our university.”
It says the resolution is to be delivered to Chancellor Darrell T. Allison and the Fayetteville State University Board of Trustees.
The “no confidence” resolution follows a memo of complaints that the faculty gave to the university’s Board of Trustees last week.
During discussion of whether to approve the resolution, Sen. Rob Taber, an associate professor, described the decision as “solemn” and said, “It’s not something that’s undertaken lightly.”
Computer science Professor Daniel Okunbor questioned why and how a copy of the resolution was released to the news media before the meeting.
“I’m kind of concerned why, if this body has not yet discussed such a resolution, why it is already out there in the public,” he said. It should have been discussed by the Senate before it was made public, he said.
Shekarkhar said the resolution had been given to members of the Faculty Senate before copies were given to members of the news media who made inquiries.
Taber said the senators sought faculty feedback on the topic ahead of the vote.
Under state law, the Faculty Senate is a public government body whose documents are public records, accessible to any member of the public who wants to view them.
Provost attended the meeting, but left before the vote
Leach attended the beginning of the meeting, which was conducted virtually with Microsoft’s Teams online meeting application, to give a presentation. She briefed the faculty on several academic matters, including Fayetteville State’s progress in setting its new teaching workload policy. The new policy is not yet final.
She thanked the members of a task force who on Tuesday submitted their draft for the workload policy. She said it will be reviewed to ensure it aligns with a new mandate from the University of North Carolina Board of Governors — the body that oversees all 16 of North Carolina’s public universities.
The university faculty are required to teach, perform research or creative endeavors, and perform service, according to university documents and interviews with the professors. Fayetteville State’s faculty assert that under the new policy, they will be required to teach more without a reduction in their research and service expectations.
The UNC Board of Governors has set a new baseline that faculty at the 16 universities teach four classes per semester. And while four classes is the standard, its rules for implementing the policy say the universities must also identify “guidelines under which deviations” are allowed for a professor to spend more time or less time to service, or to research, or to teaching.
After Leach’s presentation, she asked whether faculty members had any questions for her. None proffered any. In an interview later, Shekarkhar said the lack of questions for the provost was unusual.
It appears Leach signed out just as the senators took up their no confidence resolution, Shekarkhar said.
Leach could not be reached for comment afterward.
Neither could Allison, the chancellor.
Official response from Fayetteville State
Fayetteville State spokesman Devon Smith issued a statement on behalf of the university.
“Fayetteville State University and its administration continue to address faculty concerns and have met recently with a small group of faculty members regarding the issues they’ve raised,” the statement says. “We are not in opposition with any faculty member and believe that together, through dialogue, mutual respect, and understanding, we can be progressive in meeting 21st century needs.
“As a constituent member of the UNC System, we have to ensure that we adhere to the policies and regulations instituted by the UNC System,” it says. “Our administration and faculty members are forward focused and aligned with ensuring our adherence to these policy changes ahead.
“We will continue to have regular meetings with faculty and administrator workgroups to review and evaluate these new policies and regulations,” it says.
Allison has a town hall meeting with the faculty scheduled for April 12, according to emails provided to CityView.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
This story was made possible by contributions to CityView News Fund, a 501c3 charitable organization committed to an informed democracy.
