West Virginia University faculty call for head to resign
By VICKI SMITH Associated Press Writer
Garrison, dogged for months by a degree scandal involving the governor's daughter, respectfully disagrees.
"We've got a lot of work left to do at the university," he told The Associated Press Monday night, hours after the Faculty Senate declared no confidence with a 77-19 vote and demanded he resign. "I intend to keep moving forward."
The senate's nonbinding motion demands that Garrison step down, or that the university's Board of Governors require his resignation. Neither is likely to happen; Garrison has the support of the board and Gov. Joe Manchin, who appointed most of its members.
Faculty discontent and outrage have grown since an independent panel concluded April 23 that administrators and educators gave Manchin's daughter, Heather Bresch, a degree she didn't earn.
While he said he understands the feelings of nearly two dozen senators who spoke against him, Garrison said he remains committed to the tasks he was hired for, from raising salaries to strengthening research endeavors.
"If you look at the results, when we've worked with faculty we've had great results," he said, pointing to an enrollment surge of 480 students over this time last year and acceptance letters from 160 students in the last week, while the controversy was at its peak. Private giving, he said, is also ahead of last year.
"All of our indicators point to strength and forward movement," he said. "It's not exactly fair to just point to one thing without talking about all those other things."
Provost Gerald Lang and business school Dean R. Stephen Sears have resigned their administrative posts to return to teaching, and at least one donor has threatened to withhold gifts.
The independent panel determined there was no academic foundation for concluding Bresch had earned the degree and that administrators relied too heavily on verbal assertions and caved to political pressure - real or perceived.
The report did not cite evidence that Garrison directly interfered, but concluded the presence of key staff created "palpable" pressure to go along.
Garrison and Bresch are longtime friends, and Garrison once worked as a lobbyist for generic drug maker Mylan Inc., where Bresch now works. And Mylan's chairman, Milan "Mike" Puskar, has given tens of millions to the university, which named its football stadium for him.
Several Garrison aides, including chief of staff Craig Walker, participated in an October meeting where it was decided to add courses and grades to Bresch's transcript, then retroactively award her a 1998 executive master's of business administration degree.
Though at least one major donor has vowed to withhold planned gifts, Garrison said he is not concerned about a long-term impact on donations. He also disputed the assertion of former Faculty Senate chairman Christopher Wilkinson, who said during Monday's debate that the "quiet phase" of the university's capital fundraising campaign has been suspended.
"That is absolutely not based in fact," Garrison said.
Among Garrison's few defenders Monday was senate Chairman Steve Kite, who urged colleagues to guard against speculation and suspicion. The report, he said, did not find that Garrison participated in the decision to help Bresch.
Kite also praised Garrison for trying to create openness and giving the faculty more of a voice in governance. "We would be flat-out lucky to find another president, no matter what their background, to be so inclined," he said.
The faculty may have one more say on Garrison's fate.
The University Assembly, a much larger body that includes all tenured and tenure-track faculty, plans to hold a rare special meeting May 14. An agenda was not immediately available.
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2008-05-06 07:13:07 GMT