The Mississippi Valley State University Faculty Senate has sent a letter to the state's higher education commissioner asking him to look into conditions at the school and report his findings.
The letter, signed by Faculty Senate president Dr. Francis Showi, was mailed Friday to Dr. Thomas C. Meredith. It said that a vote had determined that the faculty "lacks confidence in the leadership" at MVSU.
The letter gives no date for the meeting at which the vote was taken, but it states that 33 faculty members voted for "no confidence" in the university's president, Dr. Lester C. Newman, while one member dissented and one abstained.
Sometimes after such votes, a university president steps down or is replaced, al-though the College Board ultimately decides the course of action.
As of Friday, the College Board had not received the letter from the Faculty Senate. "At this time it would be premature to really say what the response would be because nothing has been received," said Annie Mitchell, director of media relations for the board.
Newman has served as MVSU's president since 1998.
Earlier in the week, he said complaints of allowing students late registration, lack of professional courtesy, disregard for the academic calendar, inconsistency in faculty pay, and disregard for the chain of command in communications with departments were academic issues outside his direct purview.
New complaints stated in the letter to the College Board are:
- "Instability at the executive level of the university."
- "Acting chairs are allowed to serve five years or more."
- "No one is left in charge when the President is away from the campus; thus classes cannot be cancelled during inclement weather and important documents are not signed in a timely manner."
- "Academic programs are started with inadequate staffing, funding and equipment."
- "Department are allowed to function without established/acknowledged Chairs."
Showi would not comment on the letter.
"The letter needs to get to the commissioner before it gets to the media," he said.
Newman still had not received any official or unofficial documents from the Faculty Senate regarding the vote as of Friday, said Debbie Montgomery, director of the MVSU Office of Public Relations.
In a letter sent to university faculty and staff Thursday, Newman attempted to refute some of 32 anonymous allegations that have been distributed widely around the campus.
The president said he would limit his responses to items of relevance to university operations and not those of a personal nature.
The document states that Newman used state money to pay for $14,000 worth of laundry services and questions the legality and amount of that service.
Newman said in his letter to faculty that a procedural audit was conducted by a College Board auditor and that living expenses and fringe benefits are common to all state university presidents. No findings from the audit had been presented to him, he said.
Newman also addressed the allegation that his daughter was allowed to receive financial aid at MVSU when she should not qualify for it due to the amount of her parents' salaries. Newman said she transferred to the university as an independent married student and was awarded financial aid through the usual process.
The document questions how much money is raised at the annual scholarship gala and how it is used. Newman said, "After expenses, approximately $200,000.00 has been raised from the Gala, which go (sic) towards scholarships."
Newman denied accusations of a transcript tampering scandal as well as embezzlement from the MVSU Foundation.
He also sent a letter to university faculty on Friday outlining three new initiatives he has established to "bring the faculty to the table and rectify their concerns," Montgomery said.
One initiative is the formation of a committee to address faculty issues. The committee includes the interim vice president for academic affairs, the provost and 10 faculty members.
Newman also has created a President's Council to meet monthly with him and the executive staff to discuss issues and policies. Additionally, he will initiate a series of roundtable discussions with faculty from across campus, he said.
