An online vote held recently for members of the Thompson Rivers University Faculty Association shows a significant lack of 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.”
Board of Governor’s Chair Paul Dagg said the board takes the vote very seriously because it is an indication of dissatisfaction by a significant number of the faculty.
Of the number that could have voted, the result was 39 per cent voting non-confidence, Dagg added.
“We would like to see a movement toward improving internal communication that leads to specific solutions,” Dagg told the Tribune.
Dagg was disappointed in the timing of the vote because the two sides had just completed a very difficult negotiation period and the night before the vote was announced the labour management committee had its second meeting.
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.”
Dagg said the board wants to give administration time to decide on how to respond to the vote and then he hopes all parties will engage in a constructive process to come up with solutions.
“We have a passionate faculty that is committed to excellence and we want to make sure they are able to do their job as best as possible,” Dagg said.