An online vote held recently for members of the Thompson Rivers University Faculty Association shows some faculty have lost confidence in the university's senior administration.
Of the 363 who participated, 81 per cent voted no confidence.
Approximately 740 TRU faculty members — instructors, librarians, counsellors, co-op education co-ordinators, learning designers and instructional support faculty — were eligible to vote.
When voting, members were asked if they had confidence in five senior administrators, specifically the president and four vice-presidents.
The outcome of the vote was not a surprise, said TRUFA president Tom Friedman Wednesday.
"I suspected, given over the last couple of years, the number of concerns that have come forward to the faculty association through departments and from individual faculty members I knew there was a deep-seeded discontent with the direction the university was going," Friedman told the Tribune.
The voting turnout, Friedman noted, was one of the highest TRUFA has seen.
"I think it means these people care deeply about the university and they came out to show that things have to change if we're to maintain our high standards, retain our credibility and make sure we continue to offer the kind of learning environment our students need."
Williams Lake is a big concern for the association, he added.
"The campus we feel has been under resourced and is not meeting the needs of the community," Friedman said. "Classes that are really needed by community members are being cancelled."
Another problem is that many faculty at the Williams Lake campus are on contracts and are not given the support they need, he said.
"I know the campus director Ray Sanders is trying to turn things around but I don't think he's getting the support from senior administration. He knows the community and understands what's needed."
Friedman said the vote result shows senior administration is out of touch with not only Williams Lake but the day-to-day reality of what it means to teach the university's students.
The vote was done anonymously so Friedman couldn't say what percentage of faculty participated in Williams Lake.
"I was in Williams Lake a couple of weeks ago and we had a meeting up there and I would suspect, given this opportunity to express their concerns, the percentage of faculty there was fairly high who voted."
Going forward, TRUFA is anxious to start what Friedman hopes is constructive dialogue with administration.
"We've heard a lot of words over the last couple of months but haven't seen much in the way of real substances and actions to back up those words."
An interview with the university's board chair is lined up for Thursday at which time the story will be updated.