{"id":12369,"date":"2014-03-06T20:25:28","date_gmt":"2014-03-07T01:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bryantriangle.wpengine.com\/?p=12369"},"modified":"2022-11-08T04:32:46","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T09:32:46","slug":"faculty-votes-no-confidence-in-dr-livesay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/faculty-votes-no-confidence-in-dr-livesay\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty votes ‘no confidence’ in Dr. Livesay"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Will Jones<\/strong>
\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Feb. 25, the faculty of Bryan College submitted to the Bryan College Board of Trustees a 30-2 vote, with six abstentions, of no confidence in the leadership of President Dr. Stephen Livesay. \u00a0The vote came after weeks of turmoil regarding the trustees\u2019 decision to clarify the Statement of Belief that all faculty, staff and some student leaders must sign.<\/p>\n

This is the first time faculty have submitted a vote of no confidence against a president in the school\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Dr. Kathryn Saynes, chair of the faculty, met with Livesay along with Professors Dr. Steve Bradshaw and Dr. Adina Scruggs at 4:45 p.m. that same afternoon to inform him of the results.<\/p>\n

The faculty also voted 38-1 to ask the Board of Trustees \u201cfor a one-year moratorium on signing the contracts with the clarification statement.” The faculty also agreed to teach overtime loads without pay this fall in order to reduce the number of professors who may lose their jobs due to budget cuts.<\/p>\n

Both Livesay and Vice President of Academics Dr. Bradford Sample declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n

In a public meeting with students at 9 p.m. on Feb. 25, hours after receiving the results of the vote of no confidence, Livesay told students that he believed the majority of faculty supported the substance of the clarification.<\/p>\n

When asked to respond to the outcry over the clarification to the Statement of Belief, Livesay said, \u201cYou know, I really don\u2019t think there is [an outcry].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt [the opposition to the clarification] kind of surprises me a little bit, because this is pretty basic stuff. \u00a0I would say for the majority of students, faculty and staff, the vast, vast majority, this is right on target, this is what we believe, who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Livesay said that members of the faculty would still be required this year to sign the Statement of Belief in light of the clarification or leave. \u00a0He did, however, add that \u201cthe Board is very compassionate and understanding. \u00a0They\u2019re not out to get anybody or anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what would happen to faculty unable to sign the clarified Statement of Belief without adequate time to find new employment, Livesay said, \u201cNo one\u2019s being terminated. \u00a0We offer them something [a contract], and they can accept it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we think about the fact that God is such a great God, and His care for all of us, and that sort of thing, my thought is for those who choose for whatever reason [ . . .] I am confident that the Lord will provide for them,\u201d Livesay said minutes later.<\/p>\n

In a March 3 email to faculty and staff, Livesay told employees of the college not to speak to students regarding problems at the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not appropriate to take your concerns to our students. \u00a0If they are distracted and cannot focus because of the issues we bring to them, we are robbing them of their opportunities as students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have said at nearly every convocation and commencement for the past 11 years, that \u2018as the faculty go, so goes the college,\u2019\u201d Livesay added.<\/p>\n

Faculty, however, think that they have been ignored and disrespected by the president.<\/p>\n

According to Professor of Natural Sciences Dr. Stephen Barnett, the vote of no confidence reflected a deep dismay at how the administration has treated faculty throughout Livesay\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a disconnect [between the administration and faculty]: it does not consult faculty when it makes crucial decisions. \u00a0It has no obligation to do so, but effective leadership should seek wisdom where it may be found and involve stakeholders in decisions that affect them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe a vote of no confidence indicates that we don\u2019t think he is the man to lead the college,\u201d Barnett said.<\/p>\n

Barnett noted that the faculty had not been hasty in their judgment; the vote represented the culmination of a long pattern of dissatisfaction and disaffiliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFailure to communicate has been a hallmark of this school for a very long time. \u00a0These people [the faculty] are not quick to slander or rush to judgment. \u00a0These are people who love the Lord, who care about their disciplines and who care about students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Kathryn Saynes, chair of the faculty, noted that the vote was unprecedented: \u201cI would like the general public to understand that this was not a rash or hasty decision, or a joyful occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Communication Studies Assistant Professor Chris Clark said that this action was not taken on the basis of a single issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also see the Statement of Belief as a symptom of a larger series of crises in leadership. \u00a0You can look at College Plus, at the Dr. David Morgan situation and at <\/b>the financial shortfall and cutbacks of 2013, and you can see a clear crisis of leadership, a pattern of serious, damaging mistakes,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: The David Morgan mentioned above is not David Morgan, Bryan College director of \u00a0Physical Plant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the stakes are so high, we can\u2019t afford to have a series of missteps like we\u2019ve had. \u00a0The faculty have overwhelmingly said that it is time for a leadership change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor of Education Dr. Steve DeGeorge said that the clarification is only one of many problems facing the school: \u201cWe have a very pressing problem with enrollment and a serious financial deficit for next year. \u00a0If the clarification makes the retention of students difficult, our enrollment will drop even more, putting us in an ever tighter financial bind.<\/p>\n

\u201cA vote of no confidence is stronger if the majority is stronger, if there are numerous reasons and if these reasons have a definite pattern over a period of time,\u201d DeGeorge said. \u00a0\u201cThe burning issue is that we are trying to sign contracts by the 28th<\/sup> of March, and we don\u2019t want to see the landscape at Bryan affected.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeGeorge noted that Bryan\u2019s administrative scheme is \u201cvery pyramidal and focuses all power at the top.\u201d \u00a0The Board of Trustees can ignore student petitions or a faculty no-confidence vote if they so choose.<\/p>\n

The faculty were reminded by Assistant Professor John Carpenter prior to the vote that \u201ca vote of no confidence is a formal statement of the faculty’s feelings and includes the two concepts that: 1) the faculty do not believe that the current leader is fit to lead, and, 2) that the faculty do not see any realistic possibility of being able to change that in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Feb. 28, faculty received a half-page response from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees Col. John Haynes, saying that while \u201cthe Board appreciates the faculty\u2019s concern for the college,\u201d they had voted and fully endorsed Livesay’s leadership.<\/p>\n

A long-time professor summed up the faculty’s feelings at the Feb.25 meeting: \u201cWe have a culture of FEAR, not a culture of LOVE on our campus. We have lost our way. \u00a0We have lost our vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThus, we are in danger of losing Bryan College.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Will Jones Staff Writer On Tuesday, Feb. 25, the faculty of Bryan College submitted to the Bryan College Board of Trustees a 30-2 vote, with six abstentions, of no confidence in the leadership of President Dr. Stephen Livesay. \u00a0The vote came after weeks of turmoil regarding the trustees\u2019 decision to clarify the Statement of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":11961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4684],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16115,"href":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12369\/revisions\/16115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bryantriangle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}