Confidence, No Confidence?: Is it Time to Choose?

To the students, staff, faculty and administrators of Chicago State University:

It seems an appropriate moment for another no confidence vote and a call for the resignation or firing of both our interim Provost and President. Here are the reasons:

Interim Provost Angela Henderson:

1) The interim Provost made false and misleading statements on both her application and resume when she originally applied for the position of Vice President of Enrollment Management.

2) The interim Provost’s dissertation is currently under review by the University of Illinois Chicago for plagiarism. The dissertation is clearly plagiarized and certainly violates the academic integrity standards of the UIC College of Nursing.

President Wayne Watson:

1) None of the performance failures enumerated in the previous vote of no confidence of November 6, 2012, have been corrected: As of yesterday, enrollment stood at just under 5000, a drop of more than 2300 (32 percent) students since Fall 2010; audit findings continue at unacceptably high rates; the relationship between the administration and the faculty continues to deteriorate; the school’s public image is continually battered and the president does virtually no fund raising. He is still failing on five of the seven measures of his performance established in his 2009 contract.

2) The president has taken no appropriate action upon learning that three of his top administrators falsified their applications (official university records), despite the university’s human resources policy mandating termination for such behavior.

3) There seems to be no likelihood that the president will take any action regarding the interim Provost’s plagiarism. In fact, he served as the outside reader on the interim Provost’s dissertation committee, a severe breach of academic integrity. In a recent radio interview an administration spokesperson claimed that the interim Provost would remain in that position “during and after” UIC’s review.

4) These last two actions demonstrate Wayne Watson’s contempt for both the academic integrity and institutional health of Chicago State University.

At this point, the pejoratives in the English language are unable to capture the essence of this foul administration. In my estimation, the shockingly unethical and unacceptable behavior by both Watson and Henderson should be more than enough grounds to move even our Board of Trustees to action. What do other members of the university community think? Send me your thoughts via e-mail or post them as comments if you're so inclined. If you're one of those integrity-filled Watson supporters who likes to send anonymous e-mails or contribute cowardly and vituperative posts, feel free to do so.