AUC Senate Votes No Confidence in President Ricciardone

By CARAVAN STAFF
@Caravan_AUC

The AUC Senate voted by a majority of 80 percent in favor of a declaration of no confidence in AUC President Francis Ricciardone during a special session on February 5.

The motion of no confidence had been passed by 90 percent in a secret ballot vote during a General Faculty meeting just two days earlier, and came as a result of concern about the way the university is being managed without the involvement of the faculty.

Although the vote of no confidence was set in motion following a letter of concern sent to Ricciardone by Chair of the History Department Pascale Ghazaleh after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at the New Cairo campus on January 10, AUC senators said it reflected much bigger issues of governance.

These included the lack of shared governance, lack of transparency and disregard for the Faculty Handbook.

During the February 5 Senate meeting, faculty said they were frustrated that they were not consulted in major decision-making which affects the university.

“The situation has reached this point because the higher administration have failed to communicate with or listen to the faculty and the Senate for months now,” Ghazaleh told The Caravan.

Ricciardone acknowledged that not everyone shared his views that “substantial progress” had been made in resolving core issues, including updating the Faculty Handbook.

“The list of concerns expressed in today’s draft resolution is long and many of the issues are complex. I request the courtesy of much more time to address them, each of them, with you and as deep detailed as you wish and as you may permit,” he told the Senate at the emergency meeting before the vote.

Ricciardone also said: “Before proceeding with the vote on any such resolution, I ask the senate to reflect very deeply on the likely results of such an action particularly if taken precisely on the eve of the annual visit to campus of the board of trustees.”

This did little to quell faculty frustrations.

“The executive committee of the senate has been meeting with the president and provost for many hours but nothing comes out of it. We are thinking in circles but there is no outcome to any meetings,” said Mahmoud Farag, a professor at the department of Mechanical Engineering.

Student leaders who attended the Senate meeting also expressed frustration at the current state of affairs.

“I feel like this is what everyone in the room feels. Every single one one of us, we feel that not only are our voices unheard but are being actively dismissed,” said Mechanical Engineering and Physics senior Mohamed Tharwat.

In the second order of Senate business, Chair of the Mathematics and Actuarial Science department Ali Hadi introduced the ‘Way Forward’ motion.

The motion, among other things, looks to establish a common link of communication between the Board of Trustees and the Senate.

“The harmony of AUC seemed to have been compromised whereas the Board of Trustees appeared to have been either misinformed or not informed at all about many of the things that are happening at AUC,” Hadi said.

A majority of 83 percent senators voted in favor of Hadi’s motion.

In an email to the AUC community a few hours after the Senate meeting, Ricciardone said: “While it is unfortunate that the Senate felt compelled to pass this resolution on the eve of the arrival of the Board of Trustees for their annual visit to campus, I respect the views of the members of the Senate and their right to pass such recommendations.”

Please pick up a copy of The Caravan in print on February 10 for in-depth coverage of the General Faculty Meeting, the special session of the Senate, campus news, events and more.