UK faculty allege they’re being left out of hiring process, shared governance of university

University of Kentucky faculty representatives took issue with the hiring process for a university administrator last week, alleging that the process deviated from previous norms and rendered faculty input on the process pointless.

Working to fill an open position for the dean of the graduate school, UK Provost David Blackwell announced one finalist for the spot last week after a search committee interviewed multiple candidates.

At issue for some faculty members is the naming of just one finalist for the position, stated an email sent last week to UK President Eli Capilouto from Aaron Cramer, the chair of the university’s Senate Council. Typically after a finalist is named for a position, faculty and students get the chance to interact with the finalist at open forums where they can provide feedback about a candidate. The email stated that the naming of just one candidate is the latest installment in a growing decision-making pattern that leaves out the voice of faculty.

Ann Vail, a professor of family sciences in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, was named the sole finalist for the position, formally called the “Associate Provost for Graduate and Professional Education and Dean of the Graduate School.” Vail will will be participating in a campus-wide open forum on Tuesday.

In a statement, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said the search “has been conducted completely in accordance with university policy” and has been consistent with other recent position searches like those for the deanships of the Colleges of Social Work, Law and Dentistry, all of which were filled in the past two years.

“The search committee consisted of faculty, staff and students,” Blanton said. “They interviewed multiple candidates and the provost has brought forward one outstanding candidate for further consideration by the campus – again, consistent with policy, shared governance and what has been done in the past.”

“There is a long history of University search committees providing multiple candidates,” the email from Cramer stated. Providing just one candidate renders faculty feedback moot, as it gives the appearance that the administration has already made a decision.

Following Blackwell’s announcement of a single finalist last week, the Senate Council — an elected group of faculty and student representatives that help lead the larger University Senate — conducted an emergency meeting on April 13 where the council voted to ask Capilouto to refrain from making a final decision on the position until additional candidates could be invited to participate as finalists, the email stated.

The council felt that the search committee had “performed its duties commendably” and had no issue with the specific finalist. The council was especially concerned with a “general pattern” of decision-making that left out faculty voices, stated the email which also mentioned that it “was only last semester” when faculty were critical of the appointment of an acting dean for the university’s largest college without faculty consultation after that college’s long-serving dean was suddenly forced out.

“Of the most concern to Senate Council members is the appearance of a general pattern in administrative decision-making that faculty members are to be consulted only because of a regulatory requirement,” the email stated. “The embodiment of shared governance is valuing the input and participation of diverse populations because they offer a valuable and different perspective on shared priorities.”

The Senate Council expects that future searches will have multiple finalists “for the campus to interact with,” the email stated.

After receiving Cramer’s email, both President Capilouto and Provost Blackwell responded Friday morning. Both of their responses are posted on the university senate website. In his response, Capilouto wrote that he was “not only committed to shared governance, but also to selecting the best possible candidates for leadership positions that will continue to move our campus forward.”

Noting that the position in question will report directly to the provost, Capilouto deferred to Blackwell to also respond.

“Ultimately, I made the decision to put forward a single candidate – someone who has a stellar record as a faculty member, school director, and acting dean at this university over the course of a long academic career,” wrote Blackwell in his emailed response.

Blackwell wrote that the search committee was “broad and representative,” and that he “weighed their input carefully.” He also emphasized that internal dean searches during his tenure — which began in 2018 and will end in June — also had sole finalists. Like Blanton, he referenced the searches for the Colleges of Social Work, Law and Dentistry.

“I intend to continue with my normal search process, which has yielded outstanding academic leaders during my time as Provost,” Blackwell wrote, adding that he also is deeply committed to shared governance.

Next Monday, the university’s full senate will hold an emergency meeting to address concerns over shared governance, the agenda for the meeting posted Tuesday showed. Over 30 senators petitioned to make the meeting happen and as part of that petition, they listed other instances where they felt shared governance was violated.

“Over the past several years, and especially during the last year, we have borne witness to numerous occasions where the faculty side of the shared governance equation has been limited or reduced considerably by administration officials,” the petition stated.

Outside of the current search for the dean of the graduate school, the university is also working to find a dean for the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest college, and soon Blackwell’s June departure will call for a replacement for the provost position -- which is essentially in charge of all of the university’s colleges and their deans.

The faculty petition states that Capilouto is on a “listening tour” on to best fill the provost position but it’s unclear which faculty are being consulted in the tour “so there is no way of knowing of the candidates that are under consideration and therefore no opportunity for faculty, and other constituencies, to adequately weigh in (“share”) with insight, information and academic-based opinions.”

Faculty and senators also expressed interest in becoming more involved in the search for a new dean in the College of Arts and Sciences “but have not been reassured that such meaningful and broad-based consultation will occur.”

“Faculty input, consultation, review is critical to an informed, merit-based, academic decision on all of these key personnel decisions,” the petition stated.

In a statement posted online last week, United Campus Workers of Kentucky, a union for college employees across the state, said that it supported Cramer’s email to Capilouto and that power had been “dangerously concentrated” in Capilouto’s office.

“Without input from workers, our system of shared governance is in tatters,” the union said. “The UCW believes that a healthy university requires leadership dedicated to shared governance and accessible avenues for workers to name and negotiate workplace problems.”