A vote of no confidence will be held by secret electronic ballot on Nov. 13, according to Chair of Faculty Howard Brooks, in earlier email correspondence with The DePauw.
“There will be a vote, by secret electronic ballot, after all discussion is completed. Arrangements have been made for additional debate on the no confidence motion on Nov. 13. The voting booth will be open for multiple days, and the e-Services system automatically tallies the votes,” Brooks said in an email to The DePauw.
DePauw University faculty met on Monday in an executive session to consider a vote of no confidence against President Mark McCoy. As a result of the executive session, student media and non-voting members were asked to leave prior to the faculty’s discussion.
“Executive session is often invoked for matters related to personnel decisions or specific persons,” said Brooks, in an email with The DePauw. “Only voting members of the body are in attendance — there are no members of any media organization present inside the meeting room and no administrators without voting privileges are allowed in the room.”
Before moving to an executive session, McCoy addressed the faculty and staff members in the room, saying, “... you are not attacking me personally— you are concerned for your job and your healthcare. I am not fear-mongering or looking for ways to hurt people, but I am trying to get DePauw to a place that will not feel like the last decade … from that place we can achieve solutions.”
During the recent October Board of Trustees meeting, faculty members from the Strategic Planning Committee, the chair of Faculty Governance and the chair of the Faculty Curriculum met with the Board’s committee and incoming Board of Trustee President Kathy Vrabeck to discuss faculty concerns.
Chair of Faculty Strategic Planning Committee Jeane Pope said the term “demoralized” was widely shared to describe the faculty’s meeting with Board President Vrabeck.
“The faculty went in and noted their large-scale concerns with leadership and management, and we were met with the assertion that the Board believes in this president,” Pope said.
Vice President of Academic Affairs Anne Harris concluded her presentation on DePauw’s recent academic accreditation by saying, “My thoughts are to the time after— to how we are going to continue to come together to the table to talk about curriculum, student learning, scholarship and all the components part of the academic experience after this day’s deliberation.”
While McCoy commented that he was “saddened that we’re at this place,” he previously commented that he and the Board are dedicated to DePauw.
“There are some people for whom there is nothing I can do to change their mind (regarding the no confidence vote), and that’s okay, I respect that,” he said. “But I think there are a lot of people who really want to see if there is an effort for us to work together— and there certainly is. Both the Board and the administration are looking for ways to improve our relationship and do what is best for DePauw.”