University President Bruce Speck and a top administrator scoffed at faculty efforts to evaluate their performance, according to e-mails obtained by The Chart as part of an open-records request.

Discussion on the topic began April 6 when Dr. Gerald Schlink, a biology professor, told outgoing Faculty Senate President Roger Chelf the Faculty Welfare committee had proposed evaluating Speck and Brad Kleindl, vice president for academic affairs, on an annual basis. 

Chelf informed Speck and Kleindl of the proposal, and the message was forwarded to the Board of Governors. Governor Dwight Douglas responded April 6 and said he had a problem with proposal.

“What is their authority to decide on their own who they will evaluate?” Douglas wrote. “The AAVP works for the President. The charter of the Faculty Senate needs to be reviewed and they need to stay within their charter as approved.”

Kleindl wrote to Speck and Chelf and said that any unauthorized release of evaluation results could “result in disciplinary action.”

“Personnel evaluations are NOT open records,” Kleindl wrote. “The appropriate individual to receive evaluations of the VPAA would be the president and evaluations of a president would go to the board.”

Kleindl also directed Chelf to create a committee and designate a committee chair to aid in the process.

Governors Nancy Perry and David Jones each responded to the initial message the next day and said they agreed with Douglas. Speck e-mailed Chelf on April 8 and said he had informed the Board of the faculty proposal, but that no evaluations were to take place until the Board had reviewed the idea.

“I am not authorizing any evaluations of administration by the faculty,” Speck wrote.

Later that day, Chelf told Speck via e-mail that he had informed incoming Faculty Senate President Cheryl Cifelli there would not be a push for the evaluations to take place at the all faculty meeting, based on Kleindl’s comments.