Baylor Faculty Senate asked to evaluate Sloan_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

Baylor Faculty Senate asked to evaluate Sloan

By Ken Camp

Texas Baptist Communications

WACO–Some Baylor University faculty leaders announced intentions Aug. 20 to seek a vote of no confidence in President Robert Sloan, saying he is too divisive to continue guiding the school.

Henry Walbessar, a computer science professor and former dean, indicated he would make the motion at the Faculty Senate's next meeting Sept. 9, or sooner if a special meeting is called.

Chuck Weaver, chairman of the 33-member Senate, said any Senate member has the right to introduce a motion of this kind, but he acknowledged its gravity.

“Everyone involved is aware of the magnitude of this kind of action,” he said. “It is not something that is being done lightly.”

Neither Weaver nor Joe Cox, who assumes the Faculty Senate chairmanship Aug. 25, was willing to try to predict the outcome of a vote. But both noted “widespread” concerns among faculty about Baylor's leadership. They both pointed to a faculty survey taken earlier this year that revealed low levels of trust in the university, particularly among tenured faculty.

Baylor University spokesman Larry Brumley disputed that assessment, saying it was “unfortunate” and “outrageous” that a handful of individuals would presume to speak for the faculty at large.

More than two-thirds of the non-tenured faculty support the direction Sloan has led the university, Brumley said. But critics have chosen to focus only on the dissatisfaction of “a group of tenured, mostly male faculty” who do not supported changes at the school, he said.

Barry Harvey, associate professor of theology in the honors college, agreed that the call for a vote of no confidence in the university's top administration is “totally off the mark.”

Harvey, who has been at Baylor 15 years, noted that at the university general faculty meeting Aug. 21, Sloan and the provost “received a warm and sustained ovation, signifying broad and deep support” for the administration and its long-range plan for the school.

“If the Faculty Senate proceeds with a vote of no confidence in light of the reception the president and the provost received at the general university faculty meeting this morning, they will surrender any pretence to being a representative body,” Harvey said.

Scott Moore, philosophy professor and director of the Great Texts Program at Baylor, added that a significant number of faculty members are “outraged” that any faculty senators would consider giving Sloan a vote of no confidence.

“I genuinely doubt that the Faculty Senate will go ahead with the vote of no confidence in light of the long, sustained and enthusiastic reception the president and provost received today,” he said.

National media attention recently has been drawn to a scandal in the basketball department that resulted in the resignations of the head coach and athletic director.

But Weaver said most faculty concerns were only “tangentially” related to athletics. The neuroscience professor pointed to other “real concerns in a number of different directions.”

“These are very, very troubling times for the university,” Weaver said. “Leadership needs full faculty support, and it's fair to raise the question as to whether the present administration can provide that leadership.”

Sloan has been under increasing fire in recent months, particularly from some vocal alumni, for the Baylor 2012 long-range plan. Sloan's critics have cited concerns about his emphasis on making Baylor a major research institution and his emphasis on the role of faith in learning, as well as increasing debt and hiking tuition costs. Faculty also have expressed concern about new filters in the hiring and tenure-granting process.

Cox, professor of management and chairman-elect of the Faculty Senate, agreed that “without a doubt there is a wide degree of dissent and dissatisfaction” among faculty regarding Sloan's leadership. At the same time, he added, “The president has strong support also.”

Brumley cited as evidence of widespread support nearly 100 e-mails faculty and staff members copied to the chairman of the Baylor board of regents. They registered support for Sloan after they learned about the proposed no-confidence vote in the Faculty Senate.

“There's a lot of emotion here. This is a horrible time for Baylor University,” Cox said. “Nobody wants to hurt this university any more than it's already hurting. But there are some who think changes are required to get us out of this situation.”

The call for a vote of no confidence came the same week a major metropolitan Texas newspaper called for Sloan's resignation.

The Houston Chronicle published an editorial saying: “As university head, Sloan bears the ultimate responsibility for ensuring Baylor runs an upright program. Having failed dramatically, it's time for him to step down. Failing that, the board of regents must make the decision for him.”

The unsigned editorial focused primarily on alleged NCAA violations in the men's basketball program, controversy surrounding the death of basketball player Patrick Dennehy and an attempted cover up by recently resigned head coach Dave Bliss.

“The crisis in the basketball program is one that could and should have been avoided,” the editorial stated. And it noted the scandal occurred on Sloan's “watch” at the university's helm.

However, the editorial added, “The scandal is only the latest in a series of painful blows to the university under Sloan's leadership.”

The newspaper cited Sloan's endorsement three years ago of a proposed Michael Polanyi Center devoted to the study of the idea that life on Earth originated through “intelligent design.”

“More recently his plan to enhance the school's reputation as an academic powerhouse has irritated faculty members for its emphasis on research and publishing over teaching,” the editorial stated.

The opinion piece also pointed to the school's increased debt load resulting from an “ambitious” building program, a tuition increase, and a religious emphasis that has “alienated many alumni and divided the campus.”

The editorial called on regent Chairman Drayton McLane to “show decisiveness by ridding the school of those whose weak oversight, poor judgment, sleazy morals and possibly criminal behavior have caused Baylor so much damage.”

Charles Wade, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, issued a statement affirming Sloan as a friend and “a man of integrity and vision.”

“I appreciate the breadth of the vision he, along with the trustees, have set for our oldest and largest Texas Baptist university,” Wade said. “He and the regents of Baylor University have my prayers as they work through one of the most difficult times in the history of the school.

“Texas Baptists are a free people, and we do not expect that we will all agree with one another all the time. But we are also a praying people, and we know how to pray for one another in the good times and the bad.

“Our process of governing the institutions that relate to us through boards of trustees has proved to be a wise and effective process. We believe the administration and the board will together find the right path through this painful and turbulent time.”