Meredith College Deans Removed from Positions Without Warning; Student Walkout Planned for Monday

On Nov. 5, The Herald received a tip that all Deans Kimberly Burke (Business), Sheryl Long (Education, Health and Human Sciences), Sarah Roth (Arts and Humanities) and Liz Wolfinger (Natural and Mathematical Sciences) had been removed from their positions. On Nov. 6, students and faculty received an email in which the Meredith Community was informed that department chairs would be their point of contact going forward. The information came after leaked images from a faculty meeting showed that the Executive Leadership Team intended to address budgeting issues by “evaluating” the “necessity of dean positions and administrative layers.” Additionally, in an email sent to faculty that was made public via Instagram, Provost Anita Thomas shared that “changes need to be made to the academic structure to improve communication and decision-making processes. After gathering input from peer institutions, internal surveys, and faculty leadership, I will be making changes to the structure in the upcoming weeks,” although the email does not share any information about the layoffs immediately after. @concernedformeredith, the source of the leaked images and email, claimed that Johnson Hall “is more robustly staffed than it has been in years and they are creating new VP level positions. In other words, removing the most vocal advocates for…Academic Programs and Faculty” in a post on Nov. 4.

“I do not have the words to capture adequately how much being Dean of the School of Business at Meredith has meant to me,” Dean Burke said. “I arrived a little over four years ago having never set foot on campus, seen Raleigh, or met anyone from Meredith in-person. I was so excited!  Having served as a dean for more than a decade before arriving, I could not believe my good fortune that I would be part of a community with such a powerful mission… Through my advisory board and interaction with alumnae, I was deeply moved to learn that the sense of community extends far beyond campus.”

Dean Long echoed Dean Burke’s sentiments. “Meredith College is not merely my employer.  It is the institution I love most.  It is my home,” she stated. “Our students are intelligent, creative, and inspiring; our faculty and staff are hard-working, supportive of each other, and devoted to our students. Regardless of my role, I remain committed to Meredith College and its ideals.”

“On a personal note, I would just like to say that being the Dean of the School of Arts & Humanities over the past eight and a half years has been a great privilege,” Dean Roth added. “I cherish the many committed professionals and amazing human beings I have had the honor of serving with during that time, including Meredith’s faculty, department chairs, and administrative assistants, my fellow deans, staff in the library and Cate/Park, and many others. I am grateful to the students I have gotten to know for all they have taught me over the years. Meredith is a special place, and it will always hold a very dear place in my heart.”

Dean Wolfinger responded similarly: “During my time as Dean of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, I have worked with students, faculty, staff, deans, Vice-Presidents,  Presidents, and the Board of Trustees in so many capacities. I treasure the Meredith community and its wonderful people. Some of my most special memories are from undergraduate research, study abroad UK, and co-teaching the Science of Fermentation Honors course, because these are times when we come together in and outside the classroom to learn and grow together. I am thankful for having had the privilege to lead NMS faculty and staff with a deep commitment to students.”

In a statement from all four deans to The Herald, one of the main duties of the deans was “to inform the provost about what students need and what faculty need to support them. The deans are the on-the-ground problem solvers who have knowledge of what is happening in the academic units and whose main job it is to advocate for faculty and departments to have what they need to allow them to provide students with the richest educational experience possible.” They handle a wide variety of tasks from creating productive learning environments, addressing facilities issues, and supporting students to achieve success. Additionally, they oversee hiring and management of staff within their areas, manage budgets and funding of academic events and programs, apply for and manage grants, oversee accreditation for the Social Work, Music, Business, Interior Design, Education, Nutrition and Nursing programs, and oversee labs and experiential learning experiences such as the Meredith Autism Program and the Ellen Brewer House. “The removal of deans will mean significant changes for faculty and department chairs, who will now need to absorb a wide array of new responsibilities while carrying demanding teaching and service loads,” the statement said.

This news comes after a first round of layoffs over the summer. A spokesperson claimed to ABC 11 that the 6% staff reduction was “necessary to align staffing levels with College’s current and future operational needs.” 

Dr. Jean Wozencraft-Ornellas, Head of the Music Department, was disappointed by the executive leadership team’s decision. According to Dr. Wozencraft-Ornellas, department heads are expected to assume the roles and responsibilities of the deans, which she said to be a “massively larger” workload on top of her current duties. Dr. Wozencraft-Ornellas explained that deans were “sounding boards” for their faculty and served as intermediaries and advocates for students. “Between the loss of our administrative assistants, the loss of [some] of our adjuncts, and now the loss of our deans, more and more is falling down to the bottom tiers,” Dr. Wozencraft stated. 

She was also concerned about what this new structure would look like as department heads met with the Provost the morning of Nov. 6 but weren’t given a clear plan. “We don’t know what the academic structure is going to be,” Dr. Wozencraft, who has served as department head for 10 years, said. In the past 20 years, Meredith has not used an academic structure with just department heads, and Dr. Wozencraft noted that her previous position at a similarly sized institution had Deans to oversee entire schools. There is also a lack of clarity on the financial justification of removing Deans from their positions in November, as their contracts last through the end of the academic year regardless. Dr. Wozencraft stated that the academic deficit is currently $1.8 million, but speculated that removing Deans does not fully address the deficit and wondered if there would have to be further cuts later. 

In the leaked faculty email, Dr. Thomas wrote that the College needed “to diversify [its] academic programs, modalities and professional offerings including badges, certificates and microcredentials to aggressively pursue the adult population. Dr. Wozencraft explained that in a meeting regarding the Strategic Plan, the plan is to “develop programs that don’t serve the traditional college population… but instead short, evening programs for people that don’t have a Bachelor’s degree but may want credentials in another area.” However, she also expressed concerns over who will teach the aforementioned courses with an “already overloaded faculty.” 

Dr. Wozencraft also expressed her frustration with a lack of forthcoming from the executive leadership of Meredith College. After the summer layoffs of adjunct faculty and administrative assistants, many issues arose as faculty scrambled to adjust and  create new processes after roles were absorbed without proper training. According to Dr. Wozencraft, faculty has not been in the loop beyond the community town hall meetings hosted. She said that the whole experience has left her and other faculty members feeling “at sea” and “blindsided.” Between this and the lack of notice over the summer layoffs, Dr. Wozencraft added that “When [faculty] is not made a part of the discussion, [they] can’t plan for transition.”

She isn’t giving up completely on the executive leadership team, though. Dr. Wozencraft explained that in the meeting between department head and the provost, she “would say [they] started a conversation,” albeit one that she wished “had started six months ago.” Going forward, Dr. Wozencraft expressed a desire for increased communication between the executive leadership team and faculty: “I would love to just see them sit down with us and talk to us,” she said. “Be honest, we can take hard news. Being blindsided puts people on the defensive, including people in the discussion. I think that's the main [problem] I have is how was the decision to cut the deans made? Maybe this is the right decision, but we just want to be included so we can understand.” Dr. Wozencraft expressed her love for the college she has served at for 10 years, but also her frustration as “Johnson Hall is making it very hard to love Meredith.” 

@concernedformeredith has called for students to walk out on Monday, Nov. 10 at 11:15 a.m. “This is a move to top-down governance,” their post claims, “not the bottom-up governance recommended by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and other experts of university and college organization.” The Instagram account has expressed outrage at the decision and the lack of forthcoming from the executive leadership team. Students, faculty and community members are encouraged to gather in front of Johnson Hall at the time of the walkout to make their thoughts known. The Faculty Council shared a statement regarding the walkout on Nov. 7: “Faculty Council supports students’ right to respond as they see fit to issues that impact them. We encourage informed civic engagement and action.

By Lola Mestas, Associate Editor