COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Professors at Tennessee Tech University have published an open letter to address their concerns about the administration after a survey was conducted that a faculty group official said expressed “widespread dissatisfaction.”
The survey findings were presented at a faculty meeting last week in Cookeville, The Herald-Citizen ((http://bit.ly/1WAcgVq) reported.
American Association of University Professors local chapter president Julia Gruber said 79 percent of the 150 respondents to the survey indicated the university is worse off than a year ago. She said the survey also found two-thirds of respondents indicated their college or academic department is in poorer shape than a year ago.
More than nine in 10 respondents believed shared governance among faculty and administrators was not working well, and more than 8 in 10 respondents indicated they had no confidence that President Philip Oldham is leading the university in a positive direction.
Oldham told the newspaper that he believes the university is “exceptionally healthy.” He questioned the survey’s validity and said the number of responses was insufficient for a significant confidence level in the results.