We are writing to request your direct assistance in moving our relationship with the President from a seriously contentious level to a more cooperative, collaborative place so that we all can direct our energies fully to essential matters of educational quality and innovation, and return to tasks that have been put aside such as strategic planning.

Towards this end we request that the Board engage an outside consultant (or consultants) to assess our difficulties in working together and work with all parties to remedy this situation.

A Contentious Year

Without arguing which parties were right or wrong - we all bear some responsibility - there is probably no disagreement about how contentious this past year has been. Faculty and the President (and several of his top administrators) have had serious and often continuing and unresolved disagreements over a wide range of matters. These matters include the reorganization plan, staff dismissal decisions, renewal of faculty contracts, composition and charge of academic dean search committee, interim academic dean arrangements, access to financial and budgetary information, underlying reasons and extent of budgetary shortfalls, acceptance of search committee recommendations, role of faculty in management and faculty workloads, communication with the Board, role of the CEC around policy and budget, open expression of disagreements, and the meaning of collaborative leadership and decision-making.

A Need to Get Back on Track

We are truly concerned about these internal organizational struggles and feel that they are diverting attention and energy from the activities needed to more fully meet our educational goals. We feel the faculty and administration need to move beyond these struggles and return to work on a vision for the College, strategic planning and educational innovation. Continuation on our present course may soon begin to affect the quality of the education we are providing and cause us to miss out on important new directions that we need to pursue in the interests of the longterm survival of the College.

A Request for Help

Although we have tried many ways to work things out with the president and he with us, we have to admit that we are stymied on how to proceed and know that things have to change for the good of the College. Consequently we request that you engage an outside consultant or consultants to help the College work out these difficult organizational problems.