Eastern Michigan faculty passes no-confidence vote in leadership

Eastern Michigan University faculty members upset with the school's upper management over issues of faculty governance and a perceived push to privatize residential halls have passed no-confidence motions against President James Smith, CFO Michael Valdes and Chief of Staff Leigh Greden.

The votes are symbolic of deep distrust between the faculty and the administration. They are nonbinding.

"Be it resolved that the faculty of Eastern Michigan University are no longer confident in the leadership of President James Smith," one resolution reads. "We respectfully request that the Board of Regents take corrective action to ensure that the leadership failures noted are resolved and the balance of shared governance is restored between the Board of Regents, administration and the faculty. If President Smith is unwilling to pursue this balance and correct these failures in leadership, we respectfully request that the Board of Regents terminate his presidency."

Last week, the faculty voted 81% in favor of the no-confidence motion for Valdes, 67% in favor of the motion for Smith and 60% for the motion on Greden.

"I am aware of the Faculty Senate's actions regarding the recent resolutions. While I respect the very important role and recognize the excellence of our faculty in the academic mission of the University, I want it to be clear that President Smith, the others named in the resolutions and the University administration, have my full support," EMU board chairwoman Eunice Jeffries said in an email to faculty earlier this week.

The board meets on Thursday afternoon. It is unclear whether it will discuss working with a private company on housing issues

University administrators say they aren't privatizing.

"The university has never considered privatizing student housing," Smith said in a statement to the Free Press. "Specifically, EMU is exploring working with an experienced partner who would provide the financing for new and renovated housing facilities on campus that would be owned and managed by EMU."

He went on to say Eastern Michigan would retain ownership of facilities, set rates and hire staff.

When asked by the Free Press whether that meant the private company would simply be loaning the school money in lieu of going out to the bond market and what the company would get in exchange for any money provided to the university, Eastern spokeswoman Melissa Thrasher said "It would be premature to further discuss any specific plans at this time, as no arrangement is finalized or approved."

Faculty officials said Eastern is simply playing word games and the plan is to privatize the dorms, just like it did with other university operations, including parking.

When asked whether the three administrators would comment on the vote, a spokeswoman did not answer.

Dissatisfaction with not having input on campus matters dates back awhile, including the hiring of Smith as president "without faculty input" in 2016, Faculty Senate President Suzanne Gray told the Free Press.

“Pushing to sell off student dorms in the middle of a pandemic was the straw that broke the camel’s back," she said. "The administration made a big show of soliciting ‘input,’ but it is clear that this decision had already been predetermined. Why would we want to lose control of student housing — and likely increase costs to our students — at a time when campus safety is more important than ever? We have not gotten a clear answer as to why now is the right time to pursue this project.”

The problem with privatizing dives into different philosophies between a university and a for-profit company, said Robert Carpenter, chair of the Faculty Advisory Board on Campus Housing and the Faculty Senate Budget Committee and professor of Educational Psychology.

"As a private company, the goal is profit, not people," he said. "As a university, we are focused on people."

The no-confidence resolution against Smith also cites:

• Failure to listen to faculty about safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic;

• Failure to respond adequately to concerns cited four years ago by the Higher Learning Commission, during an accreditation visit to the EMU campus;

• Lack of follow-up on the recommendations to make EMU a more equitable and welcoming campus for Black and Indigenous students, as well as other students of color;

• A failed plan to sell EMU’s Owen Building, resulting in displacement and relocation of the EMU College of Business in the middle of a pandemic.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj. Subscribe to the Detroit Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: EMU faculty pass no-confidence vote in leadership