Penn State faculty senate grills Bendapudi on campus closures, shared governance
During a faculty senate meeting Tuesday that was at times tense, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi fielded many questions about the announcement to explore closing commonwealth campuses — and avoided a vote of no confidence, for now.
The vast majority of the questions she answered over the course of about two hours were about the university’s announcement that it would keep the largest commonwealth campuses open but explore closing others, something that was announced an hour and a half before the meeting began.
With that, many questioned her commitment to shared governance.
Josh Wede, chair of the faculty senate, said he was made aware of the announcement on Monday but did not get a heads up from university leadership that it would be announced publicly before the faculty senate meeting. That shows the state of shared governance at Penn State, he said.
“We’re at an inflection point at the university. The decisions that we make — and I say we — the decisions that we make as a university, will impact Penn State for generations,” Wede said.
He asked Bendapudi what her definition of “shared governance” is and how she’ll use shared governance in making one of the most important decisions Penn State has made in decades.
“From the faculty point of view, we know what shared governance is, and what is happening now is not. There are many vice presidents, vice provosts, deans that have participated in shared governance on recent issues, but with some of the major issues that Neeli (Bendapudi), (Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff) Michael (Wade Smith) have made, have not involved faculty in any way,” Wede said.
Bendapudi gave a nearly 15-minute statement about the decision to consider closing 12 campuses. In a letter to the community, she said that while it’s clear not all of those 12 campuses can remain open, a number of them will. She pointed to declining enrollments, demographic shifts and financial pressures that Penn State and higher education has been facing.
She said she deeply believes in shared governance and that there will be time for discussion and consultations. In her letter, she said the decision to determine which campuses will close and remain open is an administrative decision that she will make. But faculty, staff and shared governance bodies will be engaged in the planning and transition.
“I am saying that the decision will be mine. ... I’m going to own this difficult decision,” she said in response to a question about it.
Amit Sharma, a professor in the college of health and human development, said there is a lack of mutual trust between the faculty senate and administration.
“Unless we address that, how are we going to trust each other? The rest of it is just not going to come to fruition. That’s just my humble opinion,” Sharma said. “What’s happening with the commonwealth campuses, and what’s going to unfold is one part of this, everything else that’s going to impact all of us, the agility that you’re talking about, the policies that are holding us back, I just feel like if we don’t trust each other, we’re not going to move forward with all of these ideas.”
Douglas Edmonds, a professor at Penn State Hazleton, said he understood why the faculty doesn’t trust the administration but questioned why the administration doesn’t trust them.
Bendapudi said that includes things like tone and keeping conversations confidential.
“It would be being able to honor that conversations that we have, that we say, ‘let’s figure out what we do,’ are kept confidential. It is mutual respect, tone, tenor of interactions, understanding that the person sitting across from you maybe has thought about this also. Maybe there’s a reason for what is happening. It’s something we need to work on,” Bendapudi said.
More than 25 senators asked questions, many about the decision to close some campuses and the impacts of it. Questions ranged from how increased work loads will be handled, the budget model, the timeline to announce closures and the impact to underrepresented students.
Bendapudi has said many times that they need to make sure every student is getting the best and a robust Penn State experience. A couple of senators asked her to explain what the campuses aren’t doing to ensure that.
Elaine Barry, a professor at Penn State Fayette, said the university is proud of its 1:14 student to teacher ratio, which is made possible by the campuses where class sizes are smaller. At campuses they’re often able to write more personalized letters of recommendation for students, have more opportunities to work directly with faculty in research, and have high club participation.
Julio Palma, also a professor at Penn State Fayette, echoed that and said it’s implied the experiences students are getting at campuses aren’t the best, which disappointed him. He Bendapudi to define what she means by “Penn State experience.”
Bendapudi said she’s not questioning the experience they get.
“I am not questioning that they are getting excellent experiences at all of our campuses. I would respectfully say that we are not able to guarantee that sort of experience going into the future if we do not take a very close look at the competition we have, at where we are and making those investments,” Bendapudi said.
Vote of no confidence
Following the faculty senators’ discussion with Bendapudi and other university leadership, Palma put forward a vote of no confidence resolution, which he said was not just in response to Tuesday’s campus closure announcement. He highlighted some decisions, like canceling the Center for Racial Justice, that was done without consulting faculty, and other things the faculty senate has tried to institute but received no response from the administration.
“I am genuinely concerned about the direction of this university because it’s not only about the commonwealth campuses, it’s about all the small units. And I wish I was here putting this motion in the floor of the faculty senate before any announcement of campus closures. How long are we going to wait to make such statement? And a vote of no confidence after what we have done seems ... the logical step to move forward,” he said.
There was no further discussion of it because Daniel Foster, a professor in the college of agricultural sciences, motioned to table the resolution, saying it is not a productive conversation to have at this time and is premature.
The motion to table it received more than the needed 2/3 majority vote. It can be brought up at the next plenary meeting.
During her statement at the beginning of the meeting, Bendapudi addressed the the potential no confidence vote, and said she would remain committed to engaging with them regardless of the outcome.
“I understand this threat of potential vote of no confidence. I know it is an expression of deep passion for Penn State from many of you. I respect that, and I truly, genuinely respect each and every one of you. Shared governance is essential to this institution, and regardless of the outcome of today’s potential vote, I will remain committed to engaging with you in meaningful ways,” Bendapudi said.
“There have been many times over my many decades in higher education where shared governance has worked well, and other times I would be the first to admit it could be done better. We will not all agree on which is which, but progress comes from listening to one another, learning from one another and improving together.”
The next faculty senate meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. April 1.
This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 11:26 AM.
