Embattled University of Illinois Springfield provost Dennis Papini resigns
Dennis Papini, the vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost at the University of Illinois Springfield, has resigned, according to an email Chancellor Janet Gooch shared campus-wide Monday.
The Coalition of Concerned Professors, a group of tenured and tenure-track faculty at the University of Illinois Springfield, professed "no confidence" in Papini in late April.
Faculty members cited failure in leadership, including enrollment mismanagement, creation of a toxic campus climate, and alleged misallocation of university resources.
More:Voting UIS faculty members express 'no confidence' in provost
Three-quarters of the 98 UIS faculty members who voted expressed the "no confidence."
Gooch said in the email that she is working to secure an interim provost and once the appointment has been made, Papini will begin serving as a faculty member in the Department of Psychology in the College of Health, Science and Technology.
"UIS is grateful for his leadership and dedication to student success," Gooch said in the statement.
On Tuesday, Kristi Barnwell, an associate professor of history, said Tuesday that the UIS campus "deserves administrators who are capable of making decisions for the good of our campus rather than the good of their reputations.
"We deserve administrators who are willing to embrace the hard work it's going to take to build our campus and build our campus community to serve our students in the best way possible. We're glad that if Provost Papini isn't up to this work that he has decided to step aside so that someone who is ready for that role can step in."
Papini served as the chief academic officer for the campus. The vice chancellor and provost oversee academic policy and priorities, ensures the quality of the faculty and student body, and helps to maintain educational excellence, according to the UIS website.
Papini joined UIS in 2017.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Embattled University of Illinois Springfield provost resigns
