Judith Grieg
With concerns regarding programmatic cuts, enrollment reductions, allegations of opaque policymaking and an overall lack of sound leadership, Notre Dame de Namur University faculty is calling for President Judith Grieg’s resignation.
Faculty at the Belmont school detailed their frustrations in a Monday, April 30, letter addressed to the Board of Trustees declaring a vote of no confidence in the school chief.
The announcement marks the most recent — and significant — condemnation of Greig by school faculty who, following their unionization two years ago, have publicly and fervently criticized her leadership.
The declaration is borne from a pattern of decisions by Greig which faculty members claim has resulted in dwindling enrollment, course reductions and other painful repercussions, according to the letter approved by a majority of the union.
“We understand the weight and seriousness of reaching this conclusion, however, be assured that it was not any isolated instance but rather sustained behaviors which have forced us to conclude that the success of this institution is untenable under the leadership of Judith Greig,” according to the letter.
Greig and school administrators declined to comment on the letter.
The faculty letter comes in the wake of officials announcing last month the axing of programs in musical performance, fine arts, graphic design and liberal arts evening classes.
Officials claimed the reductions were needed to operate more efficiently on a limited budget, according to a prepared statement from Greig, which indicates the university’s focus will shift to psychology, education, business, science and education programs.
“The current financial environment for small Catholic universities is far more challenging than ever before and important steps need to be taken for these vital institutions to survive,” according to the statement. “NDNU is among these institutions and needs to be responsive with changes based on needs and demands so that the university can continue its mission, which is to serve our students.”
Faculty members though claim the decision reduces the university’s capacity to serve all students, which will only further limit the ability to increase enrollment and in turn improve its budget.
“We have witnessed termination of academic programs that earn tuition revenue without replacing them with new programs that successfully grow revenue,” according to the letter.
The cuts mirror a similar decision which caused faculty uproar two years ago, when officials trimmed majors in philosophy or theater arts and master’s degrees in English, musical performance and systems management and more from the course menu.
Such misguided decisions are indicative of Greig’s questionable leadership style, according to faculty members who claim their frustrations are compounded by an inadequate response from officials.
The ongoing issues have lingered so long they partially compelled the faculty’s unionization, said Kristen Edwards, a history and political science lecturer who is also a member of the union leadership team.
“There have been concerns along those lines for a long while, which is why we organized with SEIU in 2016,” she said, referencing tenured faculty’s landmark decision to establish the local campus as one of the first private Catholic schools in decades to organize its labor force.
No response from district officials has been offered since the letter calling for Greig’s resignation was sent, said Edwards who suggested a reply could be a start toward improving relations between administrators and workers.
“A great first step would be a response to the faculty’s April 30 letter to the Board of Trustees,” she said.
Should Greig adhere to the faculty’s resignation request, union members are seeking a seat at the table alongside trustees to establish criteria for selecting her replacement, according to the letter.
In the interim though, staff morale has sunk due to poor treatment and a lack of communication from administrators, said Marla Lowenthal, a part-time adjunct professor.
“For a faculty to get to a point of a vote of no confidence, morale has got to be at its lowest,” said Lowenthal, who has been at the college for 10 years.
Looking ahead, she said more collaboration between officials and faculty regarding decisions guiding the future of the university could improve the deteriorating relationship.
“Faculty would be willing to work with anyone who is willing to sit and listen and make changes that would help the students, because the faculty is concerned about the students,” she said.
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(2) comments
As a parent of a daughter in her Senior year at NDNU, majoring in Vocal Arts (a recently axed program) I, along with many others, received a vague and dismissive email from Ms. Greig several weeks ago stating that NDNU was cutting the whole Arts Department. Just like that. Sent a week before finals. Every one of us that read the email are understandably frightened, sad, confused and angry.
That is also how the professors found out they no longer had a job - in a poorly written email sent to the public. What an incredibly unprofessional and disgusting way to treat the people that have dedicated themselves to educating others. The email contained no mention of how they were going to handle all of the freshman enrolled in that department, or what would happen to those in the midst of getting their degrees in the Arts. NDNU administration is a complete sh**show.
Larry Ellison, the billionaire Oracle executive granted NDNU a sizable donation fairly recently. Where did that money go? No one knows.
Everyone should be asking WHY the school allowed incoming freshmen into this one-of-a-kind program in fall 2017 if they knew they were cutting the whole department in the spring of 2018? Students and parents spend months if not years looking at schools in which to further and pursue their dreams. The paperwork for enrollment alone is suffocating and NDNU is EXPENSIVE. Anyone going there expects to be receiving a world-class education from elite professors (which they are). How cutting the program brings in more revenue is confounding to me. It is literally becoming an expensive factory geared toward filling Silicon Valley jobs.
Although Ms. Grieg and the Board of Trustees may not feel there is a need or a value in the Arts - including journalism, musical theatre, opera, art, acting and so much more - hundreds of us feel it is needed more than ever to connect us to the kind of beauty that can't be found on small screen. My daughter looked for years for a school in which to pursue her opera career. There are very, very few and NDNU has among the best teachers and coaches for the Arts in the US. SO few people even know what fantastically intricate and intense programs are offered at the school.
At any rate, the whole community should be incensed at the way the school has handled the many people who will now need to find a new school to attend, the teachers who have been at the school for decades, and the fact that NDNU went from being a community-service focused university to one driven solely by revenue and the mistaken idea that churning out more white collar workers is the answer to its financial prayers.
Very sad situation, if all or most of the teachers/professors are on board, then that says something.
$35,000 x 2000 students = $70,000,000, are there not 2000 enrolled anymore? Something sounds sketch about her, not good for the arts students and faculty.
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