WMU Board Responds to WMU-AAUP Letter Regarding Vote of No Confidence | News

The Western Michigan University Board of Trustees (BoT) has responded to a letter published by the American Association of University Teachers (WMU-AAUP) Chapter of the American Association of University Teachers (WMU -AAUP) addressing their concerns about the direction of the university.

The BoT published a letter and video from Board Chair Lynn Chen-Zhang, consisting largely of word-for-word readings of the letter.

"I assure our entire community that we are listening," Chen-Zhang said.

The WMU-AAUPs six-page letter to BoT , sent Jan. 12, expressed concern about WMU-AAUP's vote of no confidence in President Montgomery and his recent raise and bonus.

The nearly seven-minute video explains that the pay change, approved at the December 16 board meeting, is tied to the December 2020 evaluation of the president.

"When determining presidential compensation, we assess where our university stands alongside similar institutions," Chen-Zhang said. "In light of all this analysis, we determined that the compensation plan was appropriate.

Much of the letter and video described the state of the university at the start of the pandemic and the uncertainty felt by leaders at the time. Final compensation approval was delayed until the university's financial situation became clear to the board.

A date correction for the December BoT meeting was also indicated. The compensation package is retroactive to July 1, 2021, not July 1, 2020, as was incorrectly expressed in the meeting.

The letter says the board agrees that enrollment is one of the biggest challenges facing public universities and that greater engagement is a unified effort. However, BoT perspectives diverge on the timing, scale, and complexity of the challenges of modern higher education.

Enrollment in Western peaked in 2002 and the trend was comparable to the declining population trend. Montgomery's appointment was the result of the university's transition to being more responsive to the changing needs of students and the state, according to the letter.

To justify the president's raise, the board included several statistics about his time at WMU.

According to the letter, Montgomery donated about $182,000 without fanfare. With its current commitments, this figure will exceed $200,000 by the end of the fiscal year.

They also included a document titled, "Responding to a Changing World, Moving Forward Under President Montgomery's Leadership" to show how the board views Montgomery's role at the university.

"We believe this could be a pivotal moment where we will come together rather than separate," Chen-Zhang said.