Faculty Senate votes no confidence in Speck

This afternoon, Missouri Southern’s Faculty Senate voted 21-5 that they have no confidence in University President Bruce Speck.A full faculty vote will be held Nov. 2, the date of the next Faculty Senate meeting. The vote comes after a report from an ad hoc committee formed by the Senate during its Sept. 7 meeting. The committee compiled a list of 23 grievances against Speck citing “failures of leadership, management, shared governance, judgment and public embarrassment.” At today’s meeting, the committee was disbanded.”They have done their [duty],” Faculty Senate President Roger Chelf said. Debate over the issue lasted more than an hour before the Senate took the vote.Some suggested postponing the vote, but they were met with opposition from Chelf.”I am of the opinion that we have come this far, [we must] proceed,” Chelf said before the Senate voted.A faculty-wide vote on confidence or no confidence in Speck will take place Nov. 2 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The next Faculty Senate meeting will be at 3 p.m., during which votes will be tallied in the presence of representatives of the Senate and the University administration.The Senate unanimously agreed that the vote would include all full-time faculty and not just permanent, tenured members.

[Editor’s note: Speck presented the Senate with a nine-page response to the charges leveled by the ad hoc committee. That document is attached.]