University of West Georgia President Brendan B. Kelly remained optimistic Tuesday about his ability to run the school a day after faculty passed a nonbinding, no confidence resolution in his leadership.
“We will figure out ways to make it work,” Kelly said during a hourlong online meeting Tuesday with a group of Atlanta Journal-Constitution editors and reporters.
Faculty leaders have criticized several decisions Kelly has made since he became president of the 13,419-student school in mid-March after being in leadership roles in the University of South Carolina system. They’ve complained the plan he implemented that restructured some departments has reduced faculty classroom instruction time. Other complaints include that he’s shared outdated information about the university’s finances and hasn’t thoroughly addressed their concerns in meetings.
Kelly suggested some faculty are having trouble adjusting to changes he said are necessary to reshape the university, particularly as it wades through the coronavirus pandemic. State leaders made UWG and the 25 other University System of Georgia schools cut their budgets by about 10% this fiscal year.
Kelly argued progress is being made, saying enrollment increased this semester by about 200 students and its first-year student retention rate is nearly 73%, about 4 percentage points higher than last year.
However, faculty voted 263 to 129, with 55 abstentions, that they have no confidence in his leadership. Asked why there is a gulf between himself and faculty members who voted for the resolution, Kelly replied: “I can’t answer that question fully. I wish I could.”
The referendum is part of a faculty effort to get the state’s Board of Regents, which oversees operations at University System of Georgia schools, to intercede. Only the Georgia Board of Regents has the power to remove Kelly. University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley said in a statement that he and the board “wholeheartedly support President Kelly and his work to lead UWG through tremendous challenges.” The student government association has also expressed its support for Kelly.
Many college presidents meet regularly with faculty under “shared governance” agreements to discuss the school’s finances and academic programming. Disputes over shared governance have resulted in faculty members at several colleges nationwide passing no confidence votes against their presidents, said Adrianna Kezar, director of the University of Southern California’s Pullias Center for Higher Education.
Kezar said faculty members at many colleges have been frustrated by unilateral decisions made by their presidents during the pandemic. Faculty members at several Georgia schools signed petitions and voiced their displeasure over fall semester reopening plans, particularly that they needed an administrator’s approval to teach all of their courses online.
Kezar said the West Georgia faculty vote shows “there is something very wrong going on right now."
“It certainly doesn’t bode well for the president going forward, and it will take some repair work,” Kezar said.
Kelly believes the recent hiring of the university’s second-highest position, its provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, will be an important step in having a better working relationship with faculty. The position, which is designed to manage a university’s academic operations, has been vacant for more than a year. The new provost, Jon Preston, who worked as a dean at Kennesaw State University, will start Dec. 1.
Daniel K. Williams, the university’s faculty senate chair, said he’s hopeful the resolution will result in more productive discussions with Kelly.
“I sincerely hope that President Kelly will pay attention to this vote and use it as an opportunity for positive change in his relationship with the faculty.”
About the Author
