LU Faculty vote 'no confidence' in Sewell

Lincoln University students listen from a hallway Thursday as members of the Faculty Senate discuss a proposed 'no confidence' vote in Said Sewell's work as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.
Lincoln University students listen from a hallway Thursday as members of the Faculty Senate discuss a proposed 'no confidence' vote in Said Sewell's work as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

The majority of Lincoln University's faculty don't like the way Said Sewell is doing his job.

Sewell is in his third year as LU's provost - "the second person to that of the president," he explained in December 2014 - and vice president for Academic Affairs (VPAA).

With 112 of the school's more than 150 eligible faculty members voting Thursday morning, 88 supported the resolution saying the faculty "no longer (has) confidence in the ability of Dr. Sewell to lead Academic Affairs; the College of Agriculture, Environmental and Human Sciences; the College of Arts and Sciences; the College of Professional Studies; or the Office of Graduate Studies."

Only 18 faculty members voted against the no confidence resolution, which had been proposed by the Faculty Senate's Executive Committee, and six abstained.

The resolution goes to President Kevin Rome, who is Sewell's boss.

"We're not a parliament or anything," Faculty Senate Chairman Bryan Salmons told the News Tribune after the vote. "We can't compel anyone to be fired or to resign.

"But we are saying as faculty, in overwhelming numbers, that we no longer want to work with Said Sewell in the capacity of provost and vice president of Academic Affairs.

"It is a forceful message. It is the highest measure of censure that (we) have at (our) disposal."

Rome and Sewell declined to comment on the vote for this story.

But Sewell sent faculty members a seven-page statement about 35 minutes before the 11 a.m. meeting and the scheduled vote urging them to reject the proposed resolution.

A copy of the memo was provided to the News Tribune.

"I unequivocally deny the allegations leveled against the Office of VPAA by the Executive Committee of the faculty senate," Sewell wrote. "Not only are they not factual, void of evidence, personality driven, but in some instances out right defamatory.

"Because the LU administration values shared governance, the VPAA consults with faculty before decisions are made, especially those involving academic programs."

Sewell challenged a main premise of the resolution, which said: "Dr. Sewell has repeatedly violated the principles of shared governance and has not responded in any substantive way to the concerns expressed by our members. We do not expect any improvement from the current VPAA.

"Since the Fall of 2015, the faculty - through the Faculty Senate - has alerted the administration to this problem. No behaviors have changed. If anything, even more violations of our shared governance principles have occurred since that time."

In his response to the resolution, Sewell wrote: "I do not have unbridled authority as suggested by the resolution. As noted in the (university's) Rules and Regulations, I am but one individual in this organization, like everyone at Lincoln, work for the President, and ultimately the Board of Curators.

"Though I am the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs, I too only make 'recommendations' to the President. Every decision I have made has been with the advice and consent of the President and/or the Board of Curators."

Faculty members had almost no discussion about the resolution before voting on it.

But they did respond to some questions from students.

One student wanted to know why students weren't made aware of a decision that will affect them.

Instructor Ethan Cordray noted the faculty has been discussing problems with LU's administration over the course of the last year, and those discussions have been publicized in a number of ways, including newspaper stories.

"We appreciate your views as students," he said, "(but) this is a body of the faculty here, and as such, our primary purpose is to express the faculty sentiment."

Professor Jennifer Benne explained: "We, as educators, believe - through our years of experience and the experience that we've had at Lincoln University - that this is an option."

And Professor James Borgwald noted: "This body doesn't make any decisions. We (just) make recommendations."

Salmons said: "I think it's reflective of the true sentiment of where the faculty are - and have been for awhile."