The head of the Faculty Senate has sent a letter to Howard University’s Board of Trustees accusing the institution’s president, H. Patrick Swygert, of incompetence and urging the board to begin a search for a new president immediately, The Washington Post reported.

The board’s chairman, Addison Barry Rand, told the Post that the trustees “don’t really know enough” about why the letter was sent, but would open a dialogue with faculty members.

The letter criticized the president’s performance in overseeing the university’s financial affairs, citing a National Science Foundation audit that had faulted Howard’s management of grant money. It also spoke of frustration with “a culture of administrative indifference and disregard” for the Faculty Senate’s role.

Mr. Swygert, who said he would not resign, said the letter itself demonstrated the faculty’s freedom to express its opinions. As for his oversight of financial affairs, both he and Mr. Rand noted that the university had recently completed a $250-million fund-raising campaign a year early.

The letter was written by Theodore A. Bremner, a professor of biology who is chairman of the senate, on behalf of that group’s leadership council. The 50-member council authorized the letter last week by a vote of 16 to 2 with one abstention.