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The Faculty Senate of Idaho State University voted Monday to call for a faculty-wide vote of no confidence in President Arthur C. Vailas, the Idaho State Journal reported. The 27-point resolution, approved by a 19-6 vote with three abstentions, says the standing of the university has eroded during his more than four-year tenure. It calls Vailas's administration disorganized and dysfunctional, and asserts that faculty members fear retribution for speaking out (Habib Sadid, a tenured engineering professor, was fired when his critiques of the administration allegedly crossed the line from dissent to abusiveness). The resolution also questions Vailas's integrity, accusing him of claiming credit for work done by others and of spreading information that faculty members "believe to be untrue or unsubstantiated or unsupportable by known evidence and history."
Mark Levine, a university spokesman, issued a statement defending Vailas's leadership in transforming Idaho State from a regional institution to a "destination university." Levine called the accusations untrue and misleading while citing the improved financial position of the university and its classification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as one of 98 institutions with high research activity. "In summary, all the things that should be up are up and all things that should be down are down," the statement reads. Levine also lamented the personal nature of the dispute, referring to it as "character assassination and vindictive vitriol."
