The resignation of the University of Virginia Medical Center CEO Craig Kent last month did little to quell the dissatisfaction of many university professors who are demanding more action.
Kent resigned after an independent review of the allegations made by 120 physicians in a no-confidence letter delivered to the Board of Visitors in September.
There has been no announcement regarding the status of Melina Kibbe, the UVA School of Medicine dean, who was also named in the letter which demanded both of their resignations. Kibbe began a five-year appointment at UVA in September 2021.
The University of Virginia chapter of the American Association of University Professors, or AAUP, sent an email Tuesday to the BOV, UVA President Jim Ryan and other faculty, saying in part that physicians at the School of Medicine report there are “still outstanding issues to be addressed.”
“Accepting the resignation of the CEO, while important, does not go far enough to address the requests for the faculty Senate or issues related to violations of shared governance and academic freedom,” the email states.
“It is clear from discussions with affected physicians and documents shared, that the dean [Kibbe] engaged in actions detrimental to shared governance and academic freedom. We urge you and the president to not retain an administrator found wanting by faculty standards.”
Faculty complaints included:
- Ignoring faculty in the search committee and hiring processes for both administrators and SOM faculty and retaliating against faculty who have disagreed with hiring choices
- Bullying faculty senators who dissented and raised complaints by placing “letters of concerns” in their personnel files, removing faculty from chair positions, and retaliation and use of disciplinary hearings for faculty who questioned policies
- Penalizing those faculty senators and other faculty who raised complaints by interrupting or threatening to interrupt their promotions and tenure processes
The association’s members are asking the university to:
- specifically address the allegations of the efforts to silence the complaints
- provide resources for faculty who retained counsel during the investigation
- release the report of the investigation promptly
The university previously said that the report would have a limited audience: only Ryan and the Board of Visitors.
“Accepting the resignation of the CEO, while appropriate, does not go far enough to address the requests of the faculty Senate and members of the SOM faculty Senate,” the email said.
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- UVA Health allegations to be reviewed; findings will have very limited audience
- Review promised in response to letter seeking resignation of two top UVA employees
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Chris Graham
