The University of Wyoming (UW) is forming a new "shared governance" committee in the hopes it will quell faculty unrest. It follows a vote of no confidence in Pres. Ed Seidel's leadership taken by the Faculty Senate on April 7.
The campus was plunged into uncertainty last week following the ouster of a popular dean. Cameron Wright had led the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences for six years. His removal was abrupt and there was little in the way of a public explanation.
According to the Laramie Reporter, internal memos and emails show Wright had objected to a planned $500,000 transfer from his college to the new School of Computing, a division helmed by Seidel’s romantic partner. At the time, local state lawmakers intervened to back up Wright’s objections and to warn UW from retaliating against him.
UW denies that Wright’s removal is related to the transfer dispute, instead pointing to unspecified concerns about his college’s progress toward Tier 1 Engineering Initiative goals. The Tier 1 initiative, launched more than a decade ago, seeks to make UW one of the nation’s top engineering schools.
Some fundraisers and donors responded to Wright's abrupt removal by pausing their support of the university. The Ellbogen Foundation, a major fundraiser for the university, announced it was halting consideration of UW grant requests. And the executive director for the School of Energy Resources estimated UW had lost $5 million in current and potential donations in just three days, according to an email announcing her withdrawal from a fundraising task force obtained by the Laramie Reporter.
The Faculty Senate, meanwhile, voted 43 to 11 on a resolution of no confidence in Seidel's leadership during a lengthy meeting on April 7. The resolution pointed to Wright’s removal as the latest in a long line of ousters and other decisions made under what they call a "shroud of secrecy."
Seidel had attempted to stop this vote by urging the faculty to "pause and reflect" before going through with it. On April 7, ahead of the faculty meeting, Seidel hosted a town hall as well as private meetings, during which he took questions and promised to do better regarding shared governance.
"We have some work to do to improve it, and I'm all in to try to do that," he said during the town hall. "Regardless of what happens with the Faculty Senate vote tonight, I am committed to doing everything possible to help steward this institution forward."
Seidel pointed to the ongoing challenges faced by UW and other institutions of higher learning. In Laramie, as UW responds to federal dictates about diversity programs and research grants and the possibility that immigration agents will come to campus looking for individuals, it is also responding to new state laws prohibiting DEI and allowing guns in campus buildings.
UW has said it will comply with all new state and federal mandates.
"Tensions are high in academia, and in all the political sphere across the whole country right now," Seidel told the town hall. "We have had our share of many things that have come in that are uncomfortable for this campus — for every single one of you and for me personally — and so we've had to respond in short order under threat of having budgets hit."
UW trustees hosted their own special meeting the morning of April 8, most of which was closed to the public. Returning to public session, the trustees announced they will form a committee to improve communication and recommit the university to its stated shared governance principles.
Despite campuswide speculation, their meeting did not result in leadership changes.
UW has yet to publish details about the new committee, but UW Board Chair Kermit Brown noted it would include two trustees, the president, the provost and faculty, staff, and student representatives.
