The chairman of the University of Akron Board of Trustees acknowledged faculty complaints about President Scott Scarborough during Wednesday’s board meeting, but his statement did not satisfy protesters.
The Faculty Senate last week overwhelmingly approved a no-confidence vote in Scarborough’s leadership. The department chairs sent the trustees a letter this week expressing similar concerns.
During the board’s first meeting since the no-confidence vote, board chairman Jonathan Pavloff said he plans to reach out to the Faculty Senate leadership to address the group’s concerns.
“I have mentioned in previous statements that the university and the community are inseparable. Our fortunes are intertwined and rise and fall together,” Pavloff said. “We have taken actions, controversial as they may have been, designed to strengthen the university’s position. I want to acknowledge the Faculty Senate’s response to these actions expressed in their resolution of no confidence in the administration of the university and the comments from the department chairs and school directors. The board of trustees understands the serious nature of these comments and will carefully consider the items listed.”
Pavloff said the environment surrounding the Senate vote is not unique because similar votes have been made at 45 colleges and universities over the past three years.
“The issues are serious and complex and it is a situation that demands our best thinking and efforts to resolve,” he said. “It is not a situation where one group wins at the expense of another. Unfortunately, if we are not successful in finding resolution, all involved lose. Now is the time to coordinate our efforts.”
Scarborough and the administration have come under fire after many recent decisions, including rebranding UA as Ohio’s polytechnic university and making $40 million worth of unpopular cuts last summer, including layoffs and eliminating the baseball team.
About 15 students, faculty, alumni and supporters gathered outside the board meeting for a quiet protest at the Student Union.
Some students carried signs; others laid their signs to the side on display. The protesters said the signs targeted the Board of Trustees, who were meeting in executive session, before and after the public meeting.
Some of the signs read: “Students Before Administrative Greed,” “Academics Before Names at UA,” “No Confidence in Scarborough” and “Scarborough Doesn’t Know Squat about Running a University.”
Graduate student Tom Guarino, a protester, called Pavloff’s statement “shallow.” He said Pavloff didn’t address any of the problems, such as declining enrollment and outsourcing some services to private companies.
He said the department heads’ no-confidence vote in addition to the Faculty Senate vote should have encouraged the board to take the matter more seriously because it added more weight to the concerns.
After the meeting, Pavloff said the department heads’ no-confidence vote was no surprise, given the tone and the mood at UA. He said the issues that were brought forward are “serious and deserve consideration and as a board we recognize that and as a board we will give it the consideration that is due.”
Kevin Kern, an associate professor of history who has been teaching at UA for 15 years, said the university wouldn’t be at this point if the administration were more open with faculty.
“This administration has violated the trust of the university by not having any real consultation on major issues, which is considered customary at most universities,” he said. “Most of all we just want our voices heard. We don’t want the disruption. We want to help. We want to remedy it as soon as possible in a way that is best for everyone.”
UA alumni Wendy Duke said she keeps showing up at protests because she is concerned that the administration is trying to privatize more and more at the university, outsourcing duties of UA employees to out-of-state, for-profit organizations.
“If we don’t keep showing up, they’ll do what they want,” Duke said.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.