CASE Votes No-confidence in President Hundert and Provost Anderson

The faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve University has rendered a non-binding vote for no confidence in President Edward M. Hundert, M.D., and a separate vote for no confidence in Provost John L. Anderson during a special meeting today at Amasa Stone Chapel on the Case campus.

The final vote tally was 131-44 for no confidence in the president and 97-68 for no confidence in the provost, according to David Singer, professor of mathematics, who chaired the meeting.

The meeting was called by the Executive Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences in response to a petition by at least 10 percent of the faculty who had asked for the vote.

"The opinions of all of our faculty are important to me. I am grateful for the strong expressions of support I have received regarding the direction of the university, and have also learned from the criticism I have heard," Hundert said following the meeting. "John [Anderson, Provost and University Vice President] and I are resolved to lead Case; we are committed to meeting the challenges that face us. With the continued input of faculty, students, staff and alumni, together we will make the necessary decisions to build an even stronger university now and for the future."

The College of Arts and Sciences is one of eight schools at Case. The College is composed of 221 full-time faculty, or 8.8 percent of the total of 2,523 full-time faculty university-wide.  A total of 175 faculty, or 79 percent, from arts and sciences participated in the vote.

"Case is a strong university, built on discussion and debate. The Board is aware of and listens to the many voices on campus. As an alumnus and Chair of the Board, I am proud that Case is challenging itself to become a greater university," said Frank N. Linsalata, chair of Case's Board of Trustees. "The Board and I support President Hundert and Provost Anderson. We are committed to working with the leadership team and the rest of the Case community to resolve the budget issues and other challenges before us."

Anderson, Case's provost and university vice president since April 2004, stressed the importance of a unified effort in the wake of the vote and as the university works toward a balanced budget for fiscal year 2007.

"Now that the faculty have met, it is more important than ever for this university to come together," Anderson said. "We have known we were going to have a budget challenge ahead of us, and we can and will meet it. I look forward to further discussion on this and other matters. While I cannot guarantee that we will always agree with constituents of the university, we will always listen."

(this sent in an email yesterday afternoon to all CASE faculty, staff and student)