I was just forwarded this e-mail that was sent to the University of Arizona campus community from president

UA President Robert N. Shelton

Robert N. Shelton. Just wanted to pass it on to readers. I also heard from Arizona Board of Regents President Ernest Calderon, who said he plans to speak with Shelton about the poll in a private meeting next week. Here’s Shelton’s e-mail:

I have said from the very beginning of the budget crisis that I wanted to
hear from as many people on campus as possible.  Nearly one-third of the
eligible faculty voted in the poll that was conducted last week.  While
there is variable representation across the colleges, and time will be
needed to analyze the many open-ended comments, there are nevertheless some very clear themes that stand out in the answers from those faculty who voted.

Many people on campus are frustrated.  Many feel that they have not been heard.  Others feel that the Provost and I should have provided more detail on how we planned to approach the differential cuts that most (though not all) believe are the best way to tackle the enormous challenge before us. For some, personality and personal communication style are the issues.

While we have attempted to be as transparent in this process as possible, it
is apparent that we need to do more, both in sharing details of the
monumental budget dilemma that we face, and in engaging our faculty in the
search for solutions.

To that end, we are planning two immediate steps.  First, I have asked our
faculty leadership to schedule a Presidential Forum with the faculty of each
college.  This will provide an opportunity for me to hear from and engage
the faculty in each area of our University.  I expect those to be frank
conversations with no topic off the table.  It will also afford the
opportunity to discuss how we, as a University community, can confront the
very real political obstacles that all of us in education face in this
State.

Second, Provost Hay has already begun planning to meet with smaller groups
of faculty leaders to discuss the continuing actions that are being taken to
deal with the cuts that we have already received from the state
(approximately $100 million). Even more critical will be talking through the
possible options for dealing with what will undoubtedly be more devastating
cuts in the coming years.  How we go about decentralizing unit budgets and
implementing a tuition funds flow model will be critical components of those
conversations.

Issues that we face in this state are not only about money, but about our
values. Partisan state politics intrude on both of those areas on a constant
basis. In virtually every corner of the country there has been a shift away
from state support for public universities.  This trend is probably most
evident in Arizona, where over the past two decades the portion of the state
budget dedicated to higher education has decreased by half.  By all accounts
that trend will continue, and how we as a University replace those revenues
is critical to the future viability of our institution.  I cannot emphasize
enough that the status quo will not hold.

Let me conclude by saying that I take the comments that were shared in the
poll to heart.  This has been a frustrating time for the administration as
well as the faculty.  We want to do everything possible to sustain the
greatness of the University of Arizona. Finding the right path in a time of
historic revenue reductions is not easy, and not everyone is going to agree
on whatever path is chosen.

As I have said many times, in the face of these state budget cuts we cannot
continue with business as usual nor do everything that we have done in the
past.  That is a sad reality, but it is the reality nonetheless.    How we
arrive at a model that will preserve the University as the type of
institution we all want it to be will take time and enormous effort.  I very
much welcome the best thinking of everyone on campus to help inform the
approach we take.  I will work hard in the months ahead to seek out those
ideas, and I pledge to greater engagement of faculty leadership at the stage
of taking quantitative decisions.

UA provost Meredity Hay

The votes are in from the University of Arizona’s 10-question faculty poll regarding faculty confidence in the administrative team of President Robert N. Shelton and Provost Meredith Hay.

Of the 2754 faculty eligible to vote, only 858 actually did. But of those, 483 said they do not support the way Hay has carried out the Transformation process. Only 256 said the same about Shelton, showing that – at least of those who voted – there is indeed more acrimony directed at Hay than her boss. this trend was the same for the question regarding how the administration has handled the recent budget cuts: 483 said they didn’t support the way Hay has handled it, while only 212 said they did not support how Shelton handled it.

The big money question was the final one, and it tied Shelton and Hay together by asking, “How much confidence do you have in the ability of central administration to lead us through the tough challenges we face now and in the foreseeable future? On a scale of 1-5, 1=No confidence, 5=Full confidence.” Three hundred and eleven faculty voted no confidence, and only 75 voted full confidence. The remainder fell in the middle.

Shelton and Hay have been notified of the results, according to the e-mail sent out with the poll, signed by Faculty Chair Wanda Howell and other faculty leaders. I have not yet been able to reach either, but I’ve been told the Arizona Daily Star should have a full report tomorrow, so check your morning paper.

All the poll’s 10 questions followed the 1 to 5 scale of responses – the numbers I gave above were those who voted absolutely no support. The poll is broken down in greater detail below. An executive summary of the written comments collected in the poll and further evaluation of the numerical responses is expected by the end of this week, according to the e-mail sent to deans and department heads with the poll from faculty chair Wanda Howell. Next steps are still being determined, but some background on what might happen, at least from the viewpoint of the President of the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees Arizona’s three public universities, is here.

Here are the detailed poll results:

September 18-25, 2009 UA Faculty Poll Participation:

Eligible Voters: 2754 (includes approximately 750 emeriti faculty)

Ballots cast: 858      Percentage of eligible voters:  31.1%

Participation by

College Eligible Voters Votes Cast Voter Rate

CALS                          377                              106                              28.1%

CALA                          32                                1                                  3.1%

EDUCATION              104                              15                                14.4%

ENGINEERING          179                              38                                21.2%

COFA                          156                              55                                35.3%

COH                            185                              104                              56.2%

LAW                            53                                16                                30.2%

COM                           380                              60                                15.8%

NUR                            72                                5                                  6.9%

OPT SCI                     41                                5                                  12.2%

PHARM                      46                                13                                28.3%

MEZCOPH                 39                                6                                  15.4%

COS                            473                              144                              30.4%

SBS                             335                              176                              52.2%

ELLER                        123                              58                                47.2%

NON-COLLEGE         158                              56                                35.4%

Question 1. Do you support the way the President has carried out the Transformation Process? On a scale of 1-5, 1=No Support, 5=Full support

1      256

2      206

3      198

4      128

5      64

Question 2. Do you support the way the President has handled the recent budget cuts? On a scale of 1-5, 1=No Support, 5=Full support

1      212

2      199

3      178

4      167

5      95

Question 3. Do you support the way the Provost has carried out the Transformation Process? On a scale of 1-5, 1=No Support, 5=Full support

1      483

2      142

3      106

4      73

5      42

Question 4. Do you support the way the Provost has handled the recent budget cuts? On a scale of 1-5, 1=No Support, 5=Full support

1      444

2      130

3      114

4      93

5      61

Question 5. Do you support the principle of differential cuts? On a scale of 1-5, 1=No Support, 5=Full support

1      152

2      75

3      135

4      168

5      317

Question 6. Do you believe that the central administration has communicated adequately concerning recent changes at the UA?  On a scale of 1-5, 1=Do not agree, 5=Agree

1      338

2      196

3      142

4      112

5      63

Question 7. Do you believe Open Forums would be important in improving communication between the central administration and the campus community? On a scale of 1-5, 1=Do not agree, 5=Agree

1      91

2      155

3      264

4      172

5      165

Question 8. Do you believe More Email and Other Digital Messages would be important in improving communication between the central administration and the campus community? On a scale of 1-5, 1=Do not agree, 5=Agree

1      164

2      141

3      243

4      175

5      124

Question 9. Do you think central administrator should be more visible on the University Campus? On a scale of 1-5, 1=Do not agree, 5=Agree

1      67

2      75

3      218

4      200

5      287

Question 10. How much confidence do you have in the ability of central administration to lead us through the tough challenges we face now and in the foreseeable future? On a scale of 1-5, 1=No confidence, 5=Full confidence

1      311

2      204

3      168

4      98

5      75

A postscript of sorts: UA Defender, the mostly anonymous faculty forum/blog that started to call into question the leadership of Hay and Shelton, has what appears to be one of its final posts here. Those running the blog appear to be asking for their blog to gracefully retire as long as another official faculty forum rises in its place. You can read the entire post for yourself, but this last bit is worth highlighting:

” … in the hope that ever-growing support and unity will gather around a senate-leadership group with the wherewithal, and, we hope, the will, to secure stronger, better-focused faculty involvement in an effective, productive relationship with the president and provost, whoever they may be, going forward. That can happen. And it must be done. By drawing on the collective wisdom and experience of the world-class faculty that is ours at the University of Arizona.

For it to happen with Robert Shelton, the onus would be more on him than on us. That much we have made clear. Regardless of the poll numbers, the very existence of the poll has made that clear.”

University of Arizona Facilities Management said this afternoon that the actual cost of cleaning up the chalk from the UA protests on budget cuts was $354.73. Cleanup costs had originally been estimated at $1,000. Christopher Kopach, associate director of Facilities Management said that the report on the chalking indicated that at least 80 areas had chalk put on them, including the sides of buildings.

UA employees took care of the first incidents outside of the bookstore, but because this was considered vandalism, UA has a contract with five local vendors through state-required insurance to take care of vandalism cleanup.

There is some great reporting from Arizona Desert Lamp regarding past chalk incidents at UA — go see the list and note that no one was ever arrested in those events, which makes one wonder: Why Jacob Miller? POSTSCRIPT: The ADS is reporting that ADL blogger Evan Lisull was cited today for criminal damage for using chalk on sidewalks. According to the report, police say Lisull was chalking the base of a statue, but Lisull said he only chalked the sidewalk and was doing it in direct protest of Miller’s arrest last week.