LEO Statement on Faculty Senate Vote of No Confidence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: LEO STATEMENT ON FACULTY SENATE VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE 

Ann Arbor, MI – On Wednesday evening, the University of Michigan’s Faculty Senate passed a historic vote of no confidence in the University Administration. The Senate also voiced discontent via two motions demanding the Administration (a) engage with Faculty governance (including Lecturers) when making decisions relevant to them, and (b) release the models underpinning the University’s COVID-19 response. The support for these motions indicates yet again the need for transparency and a more democratic approach to governance at the University of Michigan.

The demands for democratic governance and transparency are not new. Since March, LEO – like other campus unions – has asked for inclusion in Administrative decisions pertinent to the University’s COVID-19 response. Despite these requests, the Administration has refused to include our voices in its strategy and implementation processes. The President, faced with the faculty vote of no confidence on Wednesday, indicated that he was wrong not to have listened and will do better in the future. For the sake of this institution and the people who work here, he must make good on this promise.   

LEO Lecturers had no vote in the Faculty Senate – another failure of democratic governance at our university – but a survey of our membership last week revealed that 52% of voting lecturers were not “confident in university leadership around the reopening of the campuses.”   A majority of Lecturers responding to our survey thus share the view of a majority of the tenure-track faculty in the Faculty Senate: the Administration must incorporate the expertise of the people who make this university run if we are to develop a response to COVID-19 that keeps us safe.

LEO calls on the Administration to implement Faculty Senate Motions 3 (on governance) and 5 (on transparency) immediately. We look forward to working with our tenure-track and union colleagues to make sure that the Administration upholds its new commitment to including our voices.

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The Lecturers' Employee Organization (LEO - AFT Local 6244) is the union of all non-tenure track faculty (lecturers) on all three campuses of the University of Michigan. It is a democratic organization run by members, most of whom are volunteers. LEO operates with the belief that the right to collective bargaining empowers us to fight for the respect we deserve as teaching professionals who are also recognized scholars, artists, and entrepreneurs.