The faculty union at Minnesota's seven state universities has issued a harsh job review of the chancellor, Steven Rosenstone, blaming him for low morale among the 4,000 faculty members.
The Inter Faculty Organization — which is in the midst of yearlong contract talks — released a 10-point "Bill of Particulars" on Monday, criticizing Rosenstone for presiding over what it calls "the erosion of the missions of the state universities."
Among other things, the union accuses the chancellor of failing to protect Moorhead State and Southwest State universities from "severe" cutbacks to academic programs, and of failing to respect the collective bargaining process.
Rosenstone, who has been chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system since October 2011, had no immediate comment.
But the board of trustees issued a statement Monday saying it supports Rosenstone "unanimously and without reservation." The statement, signed by board chair Clarence Hightower, called Rosenstone "a visionary leader who cares passionately for our students and works tirelessly on their behalf." It said the board "remains enthusiastic" about the direction under his leadership.
Union leaders, meanwhile, say they are considering a vote of "no confidence" in Rosenstone.
The union's frustrations have been fueled, in part, by a lack of progress in contract talks, which began last year. The faculty contract expired in June 2013.
But the 10-point memo takes broad swipes at Rosenstone's leadership of the MnSCU system, a network of seven state universities and 24 community or technical colleges, with more than 430,000 students.
