PITTSBURGH (TNS) — A faculty vote of no confidence in Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi was introduced and ultimately tabled hours after Bendapudi announced that the flagship university would be shuttering some of its commonwealth campuses.
During a virtual faculty senate meeting on Tuesday, about 70% of the university’s 200 faculty senators voted to table the motion, which could be introduced again at a future senate meeting.
The proposed vote would have expressed no confidence in the leadership of Bendapudi after she announced earlier Tuesday that 12 of the university’s 19 commonwealth campuses — including every campus in the Pittsburgh region — are at risk of closure.
Julio Palma, the Penn State Fayette professor who introduced the motion, also attributed it to Penn State’s 2022 cancellation of a planned racial justice center and a new budget model that he believes negatively impacts the branch campuses, graduate programs and research.
“We are concerned about the direction of this university,” said Palma, whose campus could close. “Not taking this step will be a mistake. Delaying this step will be a mistake.”
Daniel Foster, a University Park professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences, introduced the successful motion to table the vote.
“I do not believe that this is a productive conversation at this time, and I believe this is a premature motion in difficult times,” Foster said.
A faculty vote of no confidence is symbolic in nature. Bendapudi cannot be removed from her position by the faculty, nor could a vote stop the plan to close some campuses.
Two years ago, West Virginia University professors issued a vote of no confidence in WVU President Gordon Gee after the Morgantown school announced plans to cut dozens of majors and over 140 faculty positions. WVU, like Penn State, has battled financial hardships in recent years.
Prior to the proposed vote, senators questioned Bendapudi for two hours regarding campus closures, administrative decision-making and Penn State’s future.
Numerous professors said they lack trust in Penn State administration, believe there is little faculty involvement in university decisions, and are concerned over the university’s new budget model and financial decisions. Professors also worried that closures could negatively impact educational accessibility for hundreds of students and dozens of communities throughout Pennsylvania.
Bendapudi stressed her belief that campus closures, though difficult, are necessary. Problems have festered for years, but university leaders have “kicked the can down the road so many times there’s no road left,” said Bendapudi, who became Penn State’s 19th president in 2022.
She attributed closure plans to enrollment downfalls, projected declines in Pennsylvania’s college-aged population and lack of funding from the state.
“We’ve got to do something,” Bendapudi told senators. “This has truly been talked about for over three decades. I think we have to confront this, and we will do it with as much care and humanity as we can.”
