New York University’s president is facing more bashings at the ballot box.
John Sexton, who was slapped with a no-confidence vote in March by faculty at the university’s School of Arts & Sciences, is now facing similar votes from at least one more NYU school this spring.
Professors at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development approved plans for a no-confidence vote on Sexton by the end of this semester.
The overwhelming approval, 106 to 12, on Monday came as a growing chorus of faculty are blasting Sexton for a high-handed management style as he presses ahead with big plans for growth and development.
Most controversial is a multibillion-dollar, 20-year construction project in Greenwich Village, which has spurred concerns among a slew of faculty, including those at the Stern School of Business.
“We’re not being consulted on fundamental decisions,” said Robert Cohen, a professor of social studies education at Steinhardt. “There’s too much top-down management.”
Faculty at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study moved this week to stage a vote in protest of Sexton’s management record.
A no-confidence vote is being weighed, sources said.
“We look forward to continuing our dialogue with [faculty] and addressing their questions and concerns as we carry on the university’s research and teaching missions and maintain NYU’s academic momentum,” an NYU spokesman said in a statement.
On April 4, NYU officials sent a memo to the trustees alleging “an escalation in the attacks by some university faculty and others who oppose the university’s plans.”
Yesterday, NYU professor Mark Crispin Miller said the memo came in response to “a perfectly civil, reasonable request to address these issues.”