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LINCOLN — Some University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty are looking to make history again next month by seeking “no-confidence” votes, this time targeting three top administrators they describe as “architects” of recent budget cuts at UNL.
In a draft motion and resolutions shared Tuesday morning with the Nebraska Examiner, faculty are proceeding with plans to effectively impeach Mark Button, UNL’s executive vice chancellor; Tiffany Heng-Moss, newly named vice chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources; and Jennifer Nelson, interim vice chancellor for research and innovation.
“The architects of the program eliminations must be held accountable so the UNL community can move forward,” said Susan VanderPlas, a statistics professor and member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.
In November, as then-UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett pursued $27.5 million in budget cuts, the UNL Faculty Senate passed UNL’s first-ever no-confidence vote, 60-14. Bennett abruptly resigned in January, leaving with a $1.1 million buyout.
‘Faulty data and flawed processes’
Sarah Zuckerman, UNL chapter president of the American Association of University Professors, said his resignation shouldn’t be able to “provide cover” for those whose work contributed to the cuts.
“Given the former chancellor’s disengagement from all facets of campus life, it is clear that the executive vice chancellor, vice chancellor of IANR and vice chancellor of research played key roles in the unjustified elimination of departments based on faulty data and flawed processes,” Zuckerman said in a statement.
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents accepted Bennett’s recommended cuts in December, including eliminating four departments at UNL — Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Statistics, Education Administration and Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design.
NU President Jeffrey Gold tapped Kathy Ankerson, a previous UNL executive vice chancellor and former dean of UNL’s College of Architecture, as interim chancellor in Bennett’s place.
‘Total confidence and respect’
Since taking over, Ankerson has sought to meet with UNL supporters and stakeholders, including faculty and staff, with a goal of rebuilding “trust.”
In a Tuesday statement to the Examiner, Ankerson said everyone wants a university they can be proud of and that “boldly” shapes a future of “limitless promise and lasting impact” through student success, scholarship and research.
She said all members of UNL’s executive leadership team play an “essential role” in that future.
Ankerson said Button, Heng-Moss and Nelson “have my total confidence and respect.”
The latest no-confidence resolutions were introduced Tuesday afternoon and will head April 7 to votes of the full Faculty Senate. UNL’s AAUP chapter is partnering with a member of the UNL Faculty Senate Executive Committee for the resolutions.
Specific allegations
The draft materials accuse Button, Heng-Moss and Nelson of contributing to budget cuts that faculty say will jeopardize UNL’s standing within Nebraska and its Big Ten peers and risk some STEM faculty’s ability to compete for federal grants.
Button helped Bennett develop the criteria for reviewing academic programs. The resolution accuses Button, a former dean of UNL’s College of Arts and Sciences, of “limiting the ability” of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and, as executive vice chancellor, leaving the College of Education and Human Sciences without a permanent dean last year as metrics were sent to campus leaders.
The draft materials say Button “contributed to and took advantage of administrative weaknesses” in the education college, including interim leaders in Educational Administration and Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design.
Heng-Moss is accused of asking Statistics Department faculty, during her deanship of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, to create an undergraduate program and to participate in an undergraduate data science cross-college initiative. Faculty say that despite a promise to support the expansion, the department was “stretched too thin.”
The draft materials say Heng-Moss had not provided “realistic plans” for how statistics courses required across UNL would continue. Faculty also plan to express displeasure in Heng-Moss being named permanent IANR vice chancellor without an “appropriate” search that included faculty input.
Nelson is accused of not creating a “climate conducive to research.” Faculty say they made Nelson aware of their concerns with metrics evaluating academic programs in late September but that her unit refused to address them. Instead, faculty shifted their work toward “correcting flawed data” or collecting alternative data, the resolution states, disrupting research.
If the resolution passes, it would signal faculty desires for the NU regents and Gold to review the three administrators’ “continued fitness” in their roles, up to removal or negotiated resignation.
Ankerson said those she has met with in the past two months have recognized the “difficult choices” UNL faced but share her view “that our institution’s best days are in front of us.”
“We will not fulfill that potential, however, until all of our faculty partners collaborate on solutions-based, forward-looking actions,” Ankerson said. “I invite you to join me in working toward that future together.”
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- 9:00 pmEditor’s note: This article has been updated to confirm the resolutions were introduced Tuesday and are set to be voted on in April.
