David Harris, executive vice president for Business and Finance, still has not said whether he will attend the special faculty meeting, though the petition mentioned him by name.
Harris has repeatedly declined an interview on the subject.
Some faculty members have said that Harris is at the center of the University's financial problems.
A confidential source, who is a department chair but wished to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, said Harris has overseen the harvesting of surplus money from University organizations - some of which could face large budget cuts from the Legislature. The source also said Harris changed business policies that affect the overhead return of grant awards procured by tenured faculty members.
Schmidly has said that he doesn't have the authority to require Harris to attend the meeting.
However, according to the Board of Regents' Policy Manual, Schmidly is responsible for "administration of the personnel system," giving him authority over Harris, who is his subordinate.
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Koch said it is up to Schmidly to determine whether Harris needs to be at the meeting.
Koch said Harris has done an outstanding job of managing the University's finances. The problem is the deteriorating state of the economy, he said.
". Obviously, when we don't get the kind of money from the state to pay our faculty members or our staff people, and it's just that they're going to be unhappy," Koch said. "I think our finances are in good shape. I really do. Now, the problem we're having today really has nothing to do with the University. It's universal."
