Critics at the University of Akron and in the community are intensifying their call to oust embattled UA President Scott Scarborough.
UA department chairs and school directors sent a letter to the board of trustees on Tuesday calling for “an immediate change in direction and leadership.”
The chairs and directors voted 26-5 this week in favor of sending the letter following last week’s overwhelming no-confidence vote by the university’s Faculty Senate.
In their letter, the chairs and directors say morale “is at the lowest point we have seen in over 30 years.”
“Low morale is already leading to the loss of our best scholars, as they choose jobs elsewhere, and will reduce our ability to attract the best scholars moving forward,” the academic leaders state in their letter. “This combined with the loss of community support as evidenced by the apparent severe decline in enrollment and greatly reduced donor support constitutes a crisis for our University requiring immediate action.”
Meanwhile, a group of outspoken Scarborough opponents has launched another series of ads demanding the president’s immediate removal.
The latest ad, purchased by the Advocates for the University of Akron, Students and Faculty, states in bold, all-capital letters: “Scarborough must go.” The new ad includes the names of the trustees and their personal emails, along with a message encouraging people to contact them directly “to voice your concerns.”
The advertisement appears in the Beacon Journal on Wednesday, the same day the board of trustees is scheduled to meet.
The agenda for the meeting, however, doesn’t include any discussion about Scarborough’s leadership and growing demands for a change in university administration.
“The letter from the department chairs and school directors has been received at the board of trustees office and is being shared with the members of the board for their consideration,” university spokesman Wayne Hill said. “While there is nothing on the agenda for [Wednesday’s] board meeting specifically related to these communications from the Faculty Senate and the department chairs/school directors, I imagine the chair will address the issue.”
After last week’s no-confidence vote, UA board of trustees Chair Jonathan Pavloff issued a news release supporting Scarborough and urging the faculty to work with the administration.
Scarborough and the administration have come under fire following many decisions, including rebranding the school as Ohio’s polytechnic university and making $40 million worth of unpopular cuts last summer, including eliminating the baseball team.
The latest ad by the Advocates for the University of Akron, Students and Faculty follows a series published by the group in December and signed by more than 325 people. The original set of ads accused the UA leadership of compromising the school’s academic reputation.
The newest ad alleges less-qualified students are applying to the university, as evidenced by more applicants this year having low scores on the ACT, a standardized test for college readiness.
The group’s ad also criticizes a drop in the number of freshman committed to the university for fall 2016 compared to last year.
More ads by the group are scheduled to appear in the Beacon Journal on Friday and Sunday.
The group states that its attempts to talk to members of the board of trustees through phone calls and letters have fallen on deaf ears, with no response.
“We want to remind the community of what’s going on at the University of Akron but we want them to contact the board of trustees,” said Bill Waldman, a member of the group, which describes itself as including alumni, donors and friends of the university.
“These are the people who can make the difference,” Waldman said, referring to the board of trustees. “These are the people who can make a change at the university. President Scarborough is not going to go anywhere on his own.”
The group has received more than $10,900 in donations to support ad campaigns appearing in the Beacon Journal and other publications.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.