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The Faculty Senate at the University of Maine at Augusta issued two no-confidence resolutions Wednesday: one regarding the University of Maine system chancellor, Dannel Malloy, and a second about UMA’s recently concluded presidential search, which members demanded be scrapped because of alleged ethics violations.
The UMA faculty held the vote Wednesday night after they learned Malloy and other top university system officials never informed Augusta’s presidential search committee that Michael Laliberte, the man hired in April, had received two votes of no confidence at his previous job as president of the State University of New York at Delhi.
Minutes from the SUNY Delhi College Senate’s October meeting cite financial conflicts, shared-governance concerns and an allegedly disrespectful and violent workplace culture as reasons for the no-confidence vote in Laliberte.
Faculty across the University of Maine system expressed anger following the revelation early this week. In a letter released Tuesday, faculty union president Jim McClymer wrote that “the system and leadership … abused the trust of all members of the UMA community who trusted in an honest search process.”
In a press release issued the morning after the vote, Malloy promised to revise presidential and provost search policies to “require a declaration from candidates as to whether they have ever been the subject of a no-confidence vote.”
Malloy also said he would discuss the Faculty Senate’s resolutions with the university system Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee “as soon as possible.”
“I understand how serious a concern this is for the university and the System, and I will work with everyone at UMA to restore confidence in me,” Malloy wrote.
The Executive Committee of the board issued a statement Thursday night. “The University of Maine System Board of Trustees has received and reviewed the University of Maine at Augusta Faculty Senate resolutions adopted on May 11, 2022. This is a matter of utmost urgency and importance to the integrity of the University of Maine System and its universities. The board acknowledges the concerns of the UMA Faculty Senate. The board is reviewing what can be done to improve the integrity of UMS presidential searches, as well as the confidence of our university communities in them.”
