Proposed Resolution of No Confidence in the Leadership of Acting President Al Delia

We have created this draft to inspire conversation at the Faculty Assembly, and to provide direction to the Senate if we go to a no confidence vote. Please consider it a working draft.

        --Concerned Frostburg Faculty Members

 Resolution of No Confidence in the Leadership of Acting President Al Delia

Frostburg State University

WHEREAS we affirm, with USM policy I-6.00 that “shared governance procedures and principles apply to all levels within USM,” that the Faculty assembly has a responsibility to hold the administration accountable for the effective and ethical leadership of the University.

WHEREAS we affirm the need for a fiscally responsible and visionary leader who understands the importance of a comprehensive regional university education and the responsibility of our University to its students as well as the residents, taxpayers, and youth of the region and of the state of Maryland.

WHEREAS we affirm the need to put the academic interests of students first in our institutional decision-making.

WHEREAS Acting President Al Delia lacks a fundamental credential for the presidency, an earned doctorate or other terminal degree in a field represented at Frostburg State University.

WHEREAS even in his short tenure Acting President Al Delia has demonstrated a disregard for shared governance by making major decisions without consulting the Faculty Senate or other stakeholders. These decisions include:

• Reducing the number of sabbaticals granted without supplying a supporting budgetary reason and limiting sabbaticals to one per college. 

• Announcing the three granted sabbaticals as if the faculty members had won a competitive award. 

• Covertly exploring the feasibility of expropriating the Library's 5th-floor student and office space for the Challenger Center without consulting library staff and other program representatives that would be affected.

WHEREAS the concern over the budget crisis has been exacerbated by Acting President Delia’s decision to enact budget cuts quickly and without representation from all academic programs. 

• Creating the “Bobcat Budget Team” in May and expecting the recommendations by July 1. 

• By implementing the “Bobcat Budget Team,” Acting President Al Delia limits the input of academic representatives and excludes deans, who would be knowledgeable about the program requirements and needs from this level of decision making. This decision eliminates crucial information on programs and their impact that is not necessarily represented by the budget lines the team members may request to see.

WHEREAS Acting President Al Delia has contributed to a climate of mistrust between administration and faculty based on failure to communicate honestly and effectively with stakeholders by:

• Creating a lack of budget transparency by not releasing the athletics budget. Faculty have been asking for access to the budget since Fall 2023 and have been continually told that it will be forthcoming. 

• Engaging in tactics including deflecting, denying, delaying, and discrediting, which evade the concerns of faculty and create further separation between faculty and administration. 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the faculty of Frostburg State University expresses a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Acting President Al Delia.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Faculty Assembly calls on the Chancellor and the Board of Regents to take appropriate action to address the concerns outlined above. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Chancellor, the Board of Regents, the Acting President, and the faculty, staff, and students of Frostburg State University.