This Letter went to all A&S Faculty from ASC Executive Committee in Response to the "Throw the Dean Under the Bus" emails

Dear A&S faculty;

Many of you have already seen the e-mails between the President and the Provost reproduced below. They are the result of an independent investigation on the part of students who care deeply about the College. The e-mails were written in April soon after the administration was first presented with the vote of no-confidence in the college’s leadership.
We have serious concerns about both the tone and the content of the e-mails. We believe that they are evidence of disregard, disrespect, and even outright duplicity toward the A&S Council and the faculty we represent (as well as toward the Dean).

In these e-mails, the faculty of Arts and Sciences (“the A&S folk”) are accused of “bad behavior,” and corrective action in the College office is understood as “rewarding bad behavior.” This is simply incredible coming from a university president. As Andy Jorgensen puts it, “the Council did exactly what it should have done - pointed out the limitations of College leadership - and did so in a careful and deliberate fashion in an open meeting characterized by facts and after 9 months of attempting to make the situation work. This is what faculty leaders do.”

We reject the assertion that we were “badly behaved” and henceforth expect and demand that the administration make decisions for the good of the College and its students, not for the purposes of punishing the faculty and the students we teach. The President and Provost will have to prove not merely with defensive words but with actions that they are worthy of our trust.

Furthermore, we are deeply concerned about the imposition of an agenda without any consultation with faculty leadership. Contrary to principles of transparency, openness and negotiation that we adopt as faculty in the arts and sciences, the e-mails show that reorganization was planned in advance and doggedly pursued without any thought of public discussion or real consultation with the faculty whose expertise is singularly important in these matters.

If this administration wants to achieve any of its goals, it will have to respond seriously to the students and faculty of this institution. One cannot run a university with no concern for its historical mission and by eviscerating the largest college on its campus. The e-mails released this week do not inspire confidence that the administration either understands or knows how to run a large, diverse, and intellectually spirited college such as the College of Arts and Sciences.

The A&S Council Executive Committee will call a special meeting of the Council shortly before the beginning of the Fall semester to consider our position.

Sincerely,
Lawrence Anderson-Huang,
Charlie Creutz,
David Davis,
Renee Heberle,
Ray Marchionni,
Brian Patrick, and
Linda Rouillard (for Ruth Hottell).