Faculty Senate condemns JMU Provost

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY The Breeze

JMU Faculty Senate approved a resolution April 13 that condemns Heather Coltman, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, for a multitude of recent actions. The resolution alleges a lack of shared governance between administration and faculty and a “culture of intimidation emanating from the provost’s office.”

The resolution passed with 33 votes in support, four votes against and five abstaining. It was introduced to the Faculty Senate in January alongside another resolution that asked for more accountability and transparency in JMU’s hiring searches for leadership positions in academic affairs, which the Senate passed March 2. The hiring resolution was based on allegations that the provost dismissed faculty feedback and mishandled conflicts of interest in last year’s search for the dean of the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM).

The condemnation alleges that Coltman demanded to know who authored the hiring resolution and threatened to put those authors under investigation for libel and breaching confidentiality rules. It says Coltman’s “silencing actions have exacerbated a culture of fear and systemic intimidation, producing among many faculty a chilling effect on their willingness to communicate concerns about JMU governance.”

In the special meeting held April 13, the Faculty Senate finalized the resolution, with some changes:

• Allegations of Coltman engaging in “potentially unethical and illegal” behavior were removed from the resolution.

• It asks that if faculty feedback on hiring searches is disputed, like with the CSM dean search, then at least two faculty members — selected by faculty, not the administration — should be allowed to participate in deliberations with JMU’s human resources and legal teams. Those faculty members would then brief stakeholders.

The resolution adds that Coltman failed to publicly address concerns raised by Jewish faculty and staff about JMU’s Holocaust Remembrance event. It condemns the provost and members of her office involved for “organizing the content” of the event; it also condemns certain actions, and a lack of action, that “marginalized JMU faculty of the Jewish faith.”

In a statement provided to The Breeze on evening of April 13 after the condemnation passed, Coltman said: “There are so many talented faculty members committed to their students, their scholarship and to the university. It is an honor to provide support to those academic leaders and I look forward to continuing to partner across campus in constructive and collaborative ways.”

The provost has previously spoken in detail about the concerns brought forth in the hiring and condemnation resolutions, both in Faculty Senate meetings and in a March 3 interview with The Breeze after the hiring resolution was passed.

JMU President Jonathan Alger also provided a statement to The Breeze on April 13:

“My office and the Office of the Provost have received and reviewed the Faculty Senate resolutions. It’s time now to move forward in a respectful, harmonious and constructive manner. The Provost has my support as we remain committed to shared governance and civil discourse, and to work productively with the Faculty Senate on a variety of issues.”

The condemnation and hiring resolutions took several months to finalize. At the end of the meeting after the vote, Hala Nelson — the faculty senator from the Mathematics and Statistics Department within the CSM, who read the

Excerpt from the “Resolution of Condemnation of Recent Actions of JMU’s Provost”

resolutions at their introduction in January — said the process has been “intimidating and emotionally draining.”

“We have been subject to biased and to exhausting scrutiny, and some of us, we have been subject to unjustified reprimands for just asking simple questions,” Nelson said. “I really hope that by addressing this troubling behavior, whether the behavior is coming from the administration or from the faculty, at any level, that it can be addressed and that the people bringing it forward do not get labeled, and this is the only way we can have a healthy and safe environment at JMU.”

CONTACT Charlotte Matherly at mathercg@dukes.jmu. edu. For more JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.