Temple faculty union to vote next week on whether to hold a vote of no-confidence in university leaders

Temple University’s faculty union will hold a meeting and a vote next week to decide whether to take a vote of no-confidence in the school’s central administration.

That was the outcome of an executive committee meeting Monday of the Temple Association of University Professionals, the faculty union. The meeting will be held Friday, March 17, and members will have a chance to speak for or against the motion before a public vote is taken.

If approved, the vote of no confidence would be held the following week, the union said.

The union announced the decision in an email to members shortly before 9 p.m. Monday.

» READ MORE: Temple faculty union debates no-confidence vote in President Wingard, but makes no decisions

“We are moving forward because of the overwhelming concerns we have received about this administration,” Jeffrey Doshna, president of TAUP, said in the email. “This is a democratic process, which gives our members a voice to make their concerns known.”

The meeting of the executive committee of the faculty union, which like TUGSA is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, follows a more than 90-minute virtual town hall last week that drew more than 500 of the union’s 2,600 members who debated the issue of whether to call for a vote.

At that time, they were debating whether to vote no confidence in Temple president Jason Wingard, Provost Gregory N. Mandel and Board Chair Mitchell Morgan. Doshna said Tuesday that between now and the meeting, the committee will discuss who will be named in the resolution.

Some argued for the vote of no confidence, noting what they said was a mishandling of the graduate student strike during which the university has stopped paying for health care and tuition remission for striking members. They also cited non-contract renewals for some non-tenured faculty, mounting concerns about public safety in the wake of a university police officer’s death, vacancies in some key administrative jobs, university finances and problems in the office of ethics and research.

But others said it would send the wrong message to vote no confidence in Temple’s first Black president when he had less than two years on the job and was confronting post-pandemic problems, like rising gun violence and a drop in enrollment, that are that are not in his control.

The university is meeting with the Temple University Graduate Students Association at noon to resume bargaining. The group is in its sixth week of a strike.

Asked if it could make a difference in next week’s vote if the university settles with TUGSA, Doshna said he’s not sure. The strike certainly brought the discontent to a head, he said.

“But it’s not the only issue of concern we are hearing from faculty and others across the university community,” he said.