Faculty chalks up 140-44 vote against confidence in Speck

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November 2, 2009

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Mon Nov 02, 2009, 10:47 PM CST

By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

The president of Missouri Southern State University’s Board of Governors said the panel will need time to review the results of Monday’s no-confidence vote in MSSU President Bruce Speck before it makes a decision on resolving the situation.

“Right now, the president is under contract, and we want to see the faculty and the president go forward,” Rod Anderson said Monday night. “Then we’ll duly evaluate at the appropriate time. It’s not something that we’re going to look at every month.

“Lord knows we’ve got issues that we need to stay on top of to keep this boat afloat. So no, there’s not going to be a change tomorrow. But timely reviews are probably appropriate.”

140 to 44

Earlier Monday, the faculty gave an overwhelming “no-confidence” vote against Speck’s leadership by a margin of 140 to 44. Almost 78 percent of the university’s faculty of 237 participated in the vote. The list of eligible voters included full-time faculty members with faculty senate representation, as well as coaches, department heads, and administrators who are designated as full-time faculty by the human resources department but who do not necessarily teach a full-time course load of 12 hours. The vote was not open to part-time adjunct instructors or to the support staff.

While the no-confidence vote is essentially a symbolic gesture that does not carry the binding weight of law or policy, faculty senate President Roger Chelf said after the results were made public that he hopes the Board of Governors will take notice and review the situation.

“We felt he is a failed leader,” Chelf said of Speck. “I think it’s time for us to sit back and take a deep breath, and look at the situation. (The board) is going on a retreat in December. I think that would probably be an appropriate time for them to discuss in private what they feel is an appropriate direction to take.”

Attempts to obtain comment from Speck were unsuccessful. He left the faculty senate meeting before the vote total was announced to attend a budget subcommittee meeting with the university finance team and members of the Board of Governors. Efforts to reach him in person after the meeting and on his cell phone also were unsuccessful.

“I know there’s a buyout clause in that contract,” Chelf said. “I know there are several departments that have had straw ballots whereby faculty said they would be willing to take up collections and pay cuts to help buy that contract out.”

Anderson said the board would not ask faculty for such a gesture, if the situation reached such a point.

“I think that’s somewhat cavalier, and that’s only one person (Chelf) saying that to a third party,” Anderson said. “That’s one way to make a point, but we wouldn’t look at that as an option. We’re not going to ask faculty to throw their salary into the issue.”

Background

Tensions between the faculty and the president began mounting in the spring and summer semesters of 2008, when Speck over time cut more than $1.3 million from the university’s operating budget. The budget for the Institute of International Studies, an administrative arm of Missouri Southern’s international mission, was reduced by 40 percent as part of those cuts. That decision prompted an outcry from students and from faculty members, and became part of a list of 23 grievances compiled by a senate ad hoc committee against Speck. That ultimately led to the no-confidence vote.

Speck was directed by the board to “improve relations” with the faculty after the group’s September meeting. He put on a series of “listening” meetings with the faculty during the week before the no-confidence vote to address issues. Many faculty members, including Chelf, have said the meetings were a positive step.

Anderson also said he was encouraged by the results of the meetings.

“I think those improvements, admitted even by the faculty, have shown some positive signs,” he said. “We’ll be doing some re-evaluation too, but I’m on a positive note. We’ve seen some definite improvements.”

‘More for our money’

Dozens of faculty members voted throughout the day at Billingsly Student Center. Several declined to comment on the procedure at all, but others shared their thoughts, and some publicly stated their reasons for voting that they had no confidence in Speck. None of the faculty members who were approached by the Globe said they voted that they had confidence in Speck.

Longtime faculty member Conrad Gubera said he participated in Monday’s vote because it was “a historic moment” for the campus.

“I voted no confidence because up to this point there has been a lack of believability in this administration and most administrations here,” said Gubera, a social sciences professor. “I’ve been here 40 years, and I can name the administrators on one hand who’ve been effective. Whether we are or not, this gives the feeling that faculty are a little bit empowered.”

Gubera went on to name five administrators who he said he believed had been effective. That list did not include Speck or any of his vice presidents. It did include former President Julio Leon “for the first 10 or 12 years.” Gubera also said he does not believe the conflict is rooted in money, as Speck and some members of the board have suggested.

“(Speck’s) salary is better than two times above one of the oldest and highest ranking faculty on this campus, in terms of tenure,” Gubera said, using himself as an example. “I don’t begrudge him his salary, but I’d like to see us get a little more for our money. Even A-Rod got a hit (Sunday) night.”

He also said some faculty members are troubled by the impression that Speck spends too much time “schmoozing” the Joplin community.

“His concerns seem to lie outside the campus rather than on-campus, and it p----- us off,” he said.

Lyle Mays, another tenured faculty member, said he voted no confidence in Speck.

“He’s not earned our confidence so far,” said Mays, a professor of computer sciences. “It’s quite a few things. The loss of three vice presidents says a lot about his style of leadership.”

Mays said he doesn’t believe the issues have affected the faculty in terms of involvement with students in and outside the classroom.

“I don’t think it affects classes directly, but morale is down and our future is in doubt,” he said. “I’ve been teaching 35 years, and this process, this problem, is new to me.”

Med school

The president of Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences said Monday night that the results of the no-confidence vote will not affect a partnership to bring an osteopathic medical school to Missouri Southern’s campus.

“I really believe this partnership is institutional,” said Karen Pletz, president of the Kansas City university. “We certainly wish Dr. Speck well. You can only keep working through those issues. It was my impression when I was there (at MSSU) that Dr. Speck cares about the faculty.”