Fayetteville State professors, angry over provost, question chancellor at town hall

Fayetteville State University Chancellor Darrell Allison offered an apology to faculty members on Friday and pledged the administration would seek to work more collaboratively with them after a revolt among professors over the university's top academic officer.

The chancellor met with faculty members at a 10 a.m. town hall Friday in Shaw Auditorium at the School of Business and Economics on campus.

More: Fayetteville State faculty votes against academic leader

Allison apologized to the professors for not including them in decisions related to their workload and the 30-60-90-120 program, which offers free summer school to keep students on the graduation track.

“I missed it as a leader,” he said.

On April 5, the Faculty Senate cast an overwhelming vote for a resolution of no-confidence in Dr. Monica Terrell Leach, who is the provost and the senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and has been on the job since May 2021. Poor communication, top-down management and decision-making that excludes professors were among several reasons cited in the document, which was sent to Allison and the university Board of Trustees.

The chancellor hires the provost, and he did not indicate any change in her status on Friday.

Pressed about resolution

The Fayetteville Observer was provided audio of Friday's town hall, which was closed to the public. An Observer editor was asked to leave the in-person meeting. The editor had received an invitation for the online version of the town hall but was removed from it as well.

Allison was asked if he had an "update" on the no-confidence resolution.

He said: "The update is what I am doing right now."

There were some murmurs.

He said the resolution had been received by himself and the trustees, who he said he would not speak for.

"As they deliberate we will keep trying to do the very best we can to be the best FSU we can possibly be," he said.

Jeremy Fiebig, a professor of theater, said some faculty members began walking out after Allison was asked about his response to the no-confidence resolution, and he said the concerns had been noted.

“He was pressed by the chair of the Faculty Senate,” said Fiebig, who has worked 14 years at FSU.

Zahra Shekarkhar, the Senate chair, was among several faculty who walked out quietly, with a few minutes remaining in the town hall, according to another person who attended.

Hopes for trickle-down

Fiebig said he believes Allison came to the town hall with good intentions.

But: “I believe he and other administrators have underestimated the amount of stress and anxiety that faculty are experiencing,” he said.

He noted Allison’s apology and willingness to take the blame.

“I have every reason to believe he is sincere,” Fiebig said. “My hope is that will trickle down to the administrators who are in between your average faculty member and him. There seems to be a disconnect between the tone and the culture he projected on Friday, and what faculty experience.”

Research money touted

Contrary to taking a sharp line against Leach, Allison, who started as chancellor in March of 2021, said she and he identified that FSU was not pulling down the money for research that it could. He said the university is on target to increase funding for research by 100% in three years, which he said meant more faculty would have means, resources and time to do research.

“Provost Leach and I, when we came here, we saw a lot of potential untapped, here at Fayetteville State University,” he said.

For her part, Leach also highlighted the university's research dollars during her report at the last Faculty Senate meeting on April 5, where the group later cast a vote of no-confidence against her.

Skepticism over workload concerns

A sticking point between faculty and the administration is over workload requirements and pay. They include reduced pay for professors to teach summer classes and a proposed big jump in classroom teaching, actions the resolution says will "obstruct the core mission of Fayetteville State University and the university’s ability to provide new programs and successfully support existing ones."

Allison told the faculty Friday there would be no new workload plan until spring 2025, and no teaching workloads would change this fall. He promised collaboration with faculty on the final plan.

In response, Dr. Rob Taber, a history professor, said that the faculty had already tried to provide input in the process, pointing out the work of a Faculty Workload Policy Committee.

“What is our guarantee that this new policy will in fact be developed collaboratively when for the past semester, there has been an end-run around the collaboration that was supposed to be taking place?“ he asked.

Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

Note: A previous version of the story had an incorrect start date for the FSU chancellor.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville State leader meets with faculty after revolt over provost