UW-Stout Student Senate issued a vote of no-confidence on Tuesday in the leadership of UW System President Ray Cross, four months after he announced his plan to merge the system’s two-year and four-year colleges.
The vote of no-confidence comes only two weeks after an email correspondence where Cross criticized shared governance was made public, which has frustrated many UW System faculty members and students.
“Getting hammered by the 'shared governance' leaders because they weren't involved in the process; however, had they been involved we wouldn't be doing anything!!” Cross wrote in his email.
In a statement, the UW-Stout Student Senate described Cross’ comments and leadership throughout the UW System restructuring as “irrevocably ruinous.”
“The University Student Senate of the Stout Student Association has no confidence in President Ray Cross’ leadership in guiding the UW System through today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities,” the release said.
The senate also denounced Cross for his lack of transparency, saying student governance groups were not consulted about his plan to restructure UW System schools.
The student senate argued that because Cross violated the missions of the UW System to engage with students and facilitate partnerships with other governance groups, he created a sense of distrust.
“The UW System failed to fulfill [these] missions during the structure and planning of this restructure by only engaging and facilitating partnerships with a select group of individuals, creating a rift of distrust among the system and causing concerns of ulterior motives,” the statement said.
The group encouraged others to join them in speaking out against the UW System.
“The Stout Student Association calls upon UW-Stout shared governance groups, UW System Student Government Associations and county boards to vocalize their thoughts, call upon change within the UW System and pass similar resolutions on this matter,” the statement said.
