Faculty defiant on proposal for UMass

AMHERST -- Outraged by last week's shakeup in university leadership, more than 200 University of Massachusetts at Amherst faculty members cast a vote of no confidence yesterday in UMass President Jack M. Wilson and the board of trustees.

The resolution, approved 214 to 1 during a contentious meeting with Wilson in the university's Campus Center auditorium, specifically criticized Wilson and the trustees for proposing to move UMass-Amherst Chancellor John Lombardi out of his post at the end of the next school year. The faculty also took issue with the trustees for discussing sweeping changes in a secret meeting and for not consulting professors on various leadership changes.

Initially, faculty planned to consider a vote against the trustees alone, but after some discussion, the resolution was expanded to include Wilson. The system president and trustees have been the target of ire across the university system since news reports broke last week of Wilson's plan to consolidate administration of the five-campus system. Under the proposal, the system president could also serve as Amherst chancellor.

Yesterday's vote may be unprecedented, according to faculty leaders who have been on campus for three decades. As Wilson sat in the front row of the auditorium, the faculty took its vote, with those in favor standing up, and the one opposed staying seated. Wilson stared ahead, showing little reaction.

Some Amherst faculty leaders have called Lombardi an effective cheerleader for the school, crediting him with raising the stature of the campus in numerous ways. They point out that he has boosted fund-raising and encouraged scholarly work. But other faculty members have criticized Lombardi's leadership style, which they consider autocratic, and have said he is too slow in creating new tenured faculty positions.

"I think you made a tremendous mistake," Richard Bogartz, a psychology professor, told Wilson during heated exchanges between professors and the system president. "I think it's possible, even now, to reverse this decision. Clearly, you have lost the trust of your faculty. What will you do next?"

Faculty chastised the trustees and Wilson for holding a private meeting on the proposal during a dinner at the UMass Club in Boston on May 3. Eleven voting members of the trustees -- two more than the minimum number for a quorum -- were present at the dinner, where they heard a presentation from Wilson and Chairman Stephen P. Tocco. Lombardi was not at the dinner. The trustees usually meet in public a few times a year and discuss major plans openly.

In his opening remarks to the faculty yesterday, Wilson tried to defuse the controversy. He said trustees would appoint a task force to monitor the new management structure for the next year and make recommendations on a final plan.

"I apologize for the way we got to this point," he said. "We have not done a very good job of communicating and getting the information out."

The idea behind Wilson's plan is to create a powerhouse university where campus chancellors run specific schools but also offer systemwide expertise. In addition to the Amherst changes, part of the proposal calls for Michael Collins, chancellor at UMass Boston, to become interim chancellor of the medical school as well as a systemwide vice president overseeing research and commercial development. J. Keith Motley, a system vice president for business and marketing, would become the Boston chancellor, replacing Collins. Trustees will vote on those two appointments next month.

The departure of Lombardi, which the faculty read as an ouster, has drawn the most controversy from Amherst faculty. Initially, it appeared Wilson might become both president and Amherst chancellor after Lombardi retires next year. But Wilson told Amherst faculty at a meeting last week that he will step down as leader and return to teaching if the two administrative jobs are combined . Faculty saw that as Wilson backing off.

Robert Connolly, a UMass system spokesman, said the proposal was never about Wilson attempting to become chancellor. "It was about looking at alternative models of government and improving the Amherst campus and the system," said Connolly, who stressed that Wilson takes the faculty vote very seriously.

Lombardi, known for making off-the-cuff remarks, has been unusually quiet since the controversy broke and was unavailable for comment yesterday. He released a statement last week saying he agreed to stay on for a year to help with the transition, but he didn't explicitly say he supports the re organization.

Wilson has said that Lombardi, who has a yearly contract, supports the plan, but key faculty leaders say they thought Lombardi wanted to remain in his post for a few more years. Lombardi has been the chancellor since 2002.

"We mutually agreed to move forward," Wilson said in response to professors' questions yesterday. "That is the way it is."

Professors continued to press the system leader about the decision, and he gave a final response: "I'm not able to talk about personnel issues. I just can't."

Tocco, the trustee chairman who also has been a target of faculty criticism , said in a statement that he had the "utmost confidence" in Wilson's leadership and his colleagues on the board of trustees.

But during the faculty meeting, some said it is Wilson, as the system's chief executive officer, who must take responsibility for the Lombardi move, said Ernest May, a music professor and secretary of the Faculty Senate.

"We have no notion who wanted Lombardi out -- maybe it was Wilson or maybe not, or maybe it was the trustee chairman or the trustees," said May, in an interview after the faculty meeting.

The last to confront Wilson at the meeting, May told the president that it appeared as if he was already executing a plan, then saying he would convene a commission to study it.

"This is not what you are supposed to do," May said. "It is a matter of trust. Your talent in telling us things is superb. Your actions are the only thing, however, which I will believe."

The room erupted in applause.

After the meeting, Lisa Selkirk, chair of the linguistics department, said she has lost confidence in Wilson despite his pledge to create an independent task force to review the plan.

"He's saying this because he thinks this is what the audience wants to hear," Selkirk said.

The faculty, as part of the resolution passed yesterday, also called for the governor to appoint his own commission to review the board's actions.

About 300 of the university's 1,200 faculty turned out for the meeting, but not all of those in attendance stayed for the vote.

O'Rourke reported from Amherst, Vaznis from Boston. Vaznis can be reached at jvaznis@globe.com.