After a unanimous vote by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Student Government Association declaring “no confidence” in Chancellor Linda Bunnell, members of the student body have developed a petition disagreeing with the vote of their student leaders and calling for better representation in the future.
According to SGA Rep. Matt Guidry, the student government unanimously voted to make a motion of no confidence in the chancellor after hearing a report at an SGA meeting on the progression of the school’s fundraising efforts over the past year.
“The fundraising situation was looking pretty grim, and it was stated that the chancellor had a big role in that,” Guidry said. “After his presentation, the motion was made, there was a little more discussion and the vote was passed. Fifteen [all] — a unanimous passing.”
In response, several UWSP students assembled a petition that read, “The Student Government Association of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point has failed the general student body.”
The petition acknowledged the council’s “failure to provide prior notice of large decisions, such as the vote no confidence on Chancellor Linda Bunnell and other major decisions.”
The petition also criticized the student government for creating an “atmosphere of secrecy and lack of transparency in the SGA and shared governance” and failing to run an “adequate election” based on poor voter turnout.
In addition, the petition calls out the SGA for creating the largest segregated fee levy in the past four years.
“There are not usually too many complaints, so my personal feeling is that this petition was written by someone who’s had a longstanding bias,” Guidry said. “It was written by last year’s SGA president, and during his administration, he worked with this year’s president. They did not see eye to eye, so to speak.”
The petition’s author did not immediately return an e-mail Thursday.
Guidry said the there is a need for continuous discussion, adding he hopes to find a compromise between the SGA, the student body and the chancellor.
“We have continually invited our chancellor to all of our meetings, and she has not been present once,” Guidry added. “We’ve invited her here this week, so we’ll see if there is further discussion.”
Guidry added the council will not change its stance in regards to the chancellor.
“I believe our position is holding strong,” Guidry said. “We will continue to work with and answer questions [from] students with their concerns, but we are still trying to encourage UW President [Kevin] Reilly to investigate this matter more thoroughly.”
Representatives from Bunnell’s office did not return several phone calls seeking comment.
