Faculty members in the biggest college at Loyola University New Orleans, the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences, registered separate votes of no confidence in the university’s top two administrators on Tuesday.
In a motion that passed, 61 to 19, faculty members affirmed that the president, the Rev. Kevin W. Wildes, had failed to provide competent leadership before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina; did not follow proper guidelines for terminating tenured faculty members as the university sought to cope with a financial crisis stemming from the hurricane; and failed to foster a sense of trust and confidence at the university. A motion of no confidence in the provost, Walter Harris Jr., passed, 70 to 10. The college has 115 full-time faculty members.
Father Wildes and Mr. Harris, who devised a plan to restructure Loyola in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, drew criticism from professors who said they had had no say in a plan they called ill-conceived and irresponsible. The plan called for the dismissal of 17 tenured or tenure-track faculty members, the elimination of 14 academic programs, and the suspension of 12 other programs (The Chronicle, April 12).
