Business as usual for dean despite 'no confidence' vote

by Christopher Sanchez

Daily Lobo

Although the majority of faculty at UNM's business school voted 'no confidence' in the dean earlier this month, Charles Crespy remains confident in his leadership.

"Not all things are going to be liked by every faculty member," said Crespy, dean of Anderson Schools of Management. "I just try to keep my eye on the ball as a good public servant and get things done. I'm very proud of what I've accomplished in the past two years."

The voting results were released Monday, indicating 23 out of 42 faculty members found 'no confidence' in Crespy. Forty-nine full-time faculty members were eligible to participate in the online vote.

Administrators would not say what prompted the vote, only suggesting Crespy must improve his communication with faculty.

"He may of not communicated with them at a level he should have; he needs to resolve that," said David Harris, acting president of UNM. "It's imperative when you're a dean. He really needs to get focused on that and hopefully he can."

Harris said the reason for the vote was not defined, and it was "hastily called within a 24-hour notice." He said the vote seemed unfair because newly hired faculty were not able to vote, but several faculty set to retire in July were able to.

"It seems manipulated in a certain way to ensure a certain outcome," he said. "I'm not suggesting that at all, but it leads to that conception."

Provost Reed Dasenbrock said the vote is the opinion from the Anderson faculty and does not put Crespy's job in jeopardy.

However, Dasenbrock agreed with Harris and said Crespy needs to improve his communication with faculty.

"It's clear some faculty are sending a fairly strong message to the dean that they are unhappy about some things," he said.

Faculty from the school have reported problems with Crespy to the University's administration for some months now, Dasenbrock said. In the meantime, UNM has hired a consultant who will meet with faculty and the dean to help find and solve any problems.

Crespy said the consultant will serve as a moderator at an annual retreat in August.

Dante Di Gregorio, an assistant professor at the business school, said he voted 'confidence' in the dean. However, he was not surprised by the outcome because Crespy is "very polarized."

"It's a product of change, and change is not comfortable," Di Gregorio said.

He said Crespy's changes have been for the better of the institution.

"There have been more changes in the past two years than in the past decade - mostly good change," he said.

Crespy was hired in 2004 by former provost Brian Foster.

Harris said Crespy is responsible for recently getting the business school reaccredited another six years, something that was not assured before he took over. Crespy has also built a strong relationship between hundreds of businesses in the state, Harris said.

"I think he's great," he said. "He's done a lot of good things."

Anderson student Amber Webb said the 'no confidence' vote from faculty is alarming and makes the school look bad.

"I think it makes it difficult to learn," Webb said. "If faculty are worrying more about politics and administration, how can they teach in the classroom?"

Crespy said he is confident the graduating class of 2007 is going to have a better education than any before. He said he plans on working out the issues and remaining in his position.

"I'm sitting here," Crespy said, "and I plan to be sitting here for a long time."