Salsbury under fire from WCU faculty

But it’s the board of trustees that control his position

[ By Mark Reaman ]

A majority of the Western Colorado University (WCU) faculty has basically given president Greg Salsbury a vote of no confidence in his ability to lead the institution. Results of a recent poll were released Monday and Salsbury was asked to respond to the vote by March 18. While not binding in any form the results of the vote were released to the campus community on Tuesday and sent to the board of trustees which has a meeting scheduled for March 25.

In an emailed statement from Salsbury on Tuesday, the president said he appreciates the support he has received and plans to keep making needed changes to WCU to move it forward.

A lengthy referendum from the WCU faculty senate titled “Western Colorado University Faculty Statement in Support of New Leadership at Western” was sent to 155 faculty members at the end of February. More than 85 percent or 133 members of the faculty responded to the statement. Of the responses, 87 people agreed with the statement, 31 disagreed with the statement and 15 abstained from voting on the statement. Given those numbers, 56-percent of the faculty seem to believe a change in presidential leadership is needed at Western.

In an email to students and campus members on Tuesday, interim faculty senate chair Jeremy Muskat distributed the statement that was voted on along with a tabulation of the votes. “The results of this referendum may inform the President’s and Board of Trustees’ decision-making, but do not bind either to a particular decision,” Muskat made clear in his email.

“The faculty took this referendum seriously and a lot of time was spent on the statement,” Muskat said at a faculty senate meeting on Monday.

The impetus for the latest vote was a controversial statement released by Salsbury on January 7, the day after the takeover of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. Many saw his statement making equivalent comparisons to demonstrations from the summer over racial justice and many on campus, faculty and students, expressed dismay at the equivalency.

The faculty senate referendum contains copious footnotes and details several incidents and reasons for the request that new leadership be installed at Western. The statement declares that in his seven years at the helm, the faculty has essentially felt isolated from Salsbury and his decision making, feels he lacks a strong commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Internalization work at Western, cannot separate his personal political views from his representation of the University’s values, and among other faults, lacks a strong understanding and commitment to Western’s institutional mission.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Salsbury issued a statement on the situation. “These results show that some of the Faculty are supportive of my leadership and some are not. Higher education and Western are wrestling with very tough issues right now—not the least of which is an ongoing pandemic,” he said. “Despite many untruthful statements that have been publicized about both me and Western in recent weeks, I’m pleased to have heard from those Faculty and other constituents—not included in this vote—who are supportive of my leadership. I am encouraged to continue moving Western forward and invoking the needed changes that Western and Colorado deserve.”

The faculty senate hopes to receive an official response to the referendum vote from Salsbury before March 18. If one is not received, the faculty expectation is that the board of trustees will discuss the matter at its meeting later this month.