Another No-Confidence Vote in U of Maine Chancellor

The faculty of the University of Southern Maine voted no confidence in the University of Maine system chancellor, Dannel Malloy, on Friday.

The Press Herald reported that faculty members cited the departure of three system presidents and a lack of faculty input in key decisions. “I think this vote is a culmination of a lot of shocks that faculty and the system have had to absorb over the year,” Faculty Senate chair Shelton Waldrep said.

The vote follows one by the Faculty Senate at the University of Maine at Augusta. The UMA faculty held the vote Wednesday night after they learned Malloy and other top university system officials never informed Augusta’s presidential search committee that Michael Laliberte, the man hired in April, had received two votes of no confidence at his previous job as president of the State University of New York at Delhi.

Malloy issued a statement Friday night that said in part, “I am not perfect as a leader. When I’ve made mistakes, I’ve tried to publicly acknowledge them. We as leaders in Maine’s public university system should all approach our challenges with humility and a willingness to work constructively together to advance our mutual interests and better serve the people of Maine. I intend to model these characteristics in my own work, and I hope the faculty at the University of Southern Maine will join me in that effort as we look forward together to welcoming a new president next Monday who shares these values.”