OBSERVER file photo A no-confidence vote could be coming Monday at the State University of New York at Fredonia.

The SUNY Fredonia University Senate representing its faculty has prepared a no-confidence vote in President Stephen Kolison and Interim Provost Judith Horowitz for Monday.

The duo “have not been transparent regarding pressure from SUNY administration” and “have not shared or made transparent any specific details related to cuts, freezes and other financial decisions,” according to two of the 12 “whereases” in the no-confidence resolution. Members of the faculty shared the proposed resolution with the OBSERVER.

Kolison “has not been engaged in the campus or village community,” and he and Horowitz “do not have the trust of the vast majority of faculty and staff on this campus,” the resolution continues. They “do not always appear to act in the best interest of this campus” and “do not communicate well with the campus community.”

In addition, they allegedly never provided financial data to support cuts or retrenchments, which could be a breach of a labor agreement, Monday’s resolution adds.

The University Senate meeting is set for 4 p.m. on Monday in the Kelly family Auditorium at the science center.

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The no-confidence vote stems from a negative report offered by a University Senate consultation team, based on an October 2024 visit to the campus. The report was prepared by Gwen Kay of SUNY Oswego and Sandra Rezac from SUNY Plattsburgh. Concerned faculty members also shared their report with the OBSERVER

The report had numerous recommendations for change: It exhorted SUNY Fredonia to publicly communicate “messages, supports, resources, mandates, and constraints coming from the SUNY administration.”

Also, “cuts, freezes and other financial decisions, especially if recommended/mandated by SUNY, should be transparent and clearly communicated to the campus community.” Kolison’s program cuts announcement in December 2023 took many on campus by surprise, the report noted.

Kolison’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic was complimented — but many on campus felt he remained isolated when students returned in fall 2021, the report continued. “The president and his cabinet members need to be more visible and interactive outside their offices,” the Kay/Rezac report recommends.

One person commented to the reporters, “We’re watching our campus die from the inside out.” Kay and Rezac stated flatly that “Campus climate has soured.” They hint at an atmosphere of racist and sexist remarks, and call for civility on campus.

The University Senate itself came in for a bit of criticism: its executive committee should be restructured and expanded to include more of the campus community.

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Kolison, who also serves on the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and Brooks-TLC Hospital boards of directors, responded to the Senate’s consultation team in a March 10 letter.

The team “did not appear to have performed the work as charged” and “it was sometimes difficult to discern whether (they) were simply conveying the opinions and feelings of those they met with or if they were sharing their own interpretation,” he said.

Kolison asked for a rewrite of the draft of their report, stating that “serious inaccuracies, concerns about the methodology, and misleading statements in the report must be addressed.” He later wrote that the report contained “misinformation.”

The president alleged that just 18% of campus employees participated in the consultation team’s survey.

Kolison suggested the report writers “rel(ied) on hearsay, innuendos, and allegations that cannot be substantiated. Doing so is unfair, unhelpful, destructive and aids the spreading of disinformation.”

He commented that though the stated intent of the University Senate’s inquiries is to help the campus achieve its goals, “it seems that when the administration attempts to take tangible and perhaps uncomfortable or difficult steps to achieve its goals, they will be called to task in this way.”