Faculty members and coaches at three campuses of Commonwealth University are set to hold a no-confidence vote next month concerning university President Bashar Hanna.
APSCUF, the union representing faculty and coaches at State System of Higher Education Schools, announced that the vote will take place electronically on February 11th and 12th, and involve members at the Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield campuses. The vote comes after the union tried to convince officials to remove Hanna from office. That included a statement from APSCUF president Dr. Kenneth Mash calling for Hanna to step down or be removed.
Hanna has faced controversy over the firing of Bloomsburg Dean Jeffrey Krug. Krug claimed that he was the subject of retaliatory actions and was ultimately fired for helping an administrative assistant file a sexual assault report against Hanna in 2017. The lawsuit awarded Krug $3.9 million.
Commonwealth University has also faced financial woes, declining enrollment, hiring issues, technical failures, other leadership crises and decreasing morale.
In today’s statement, Mash said that while the measure is a drastic one, they are doing it “because we understand that everyone’s first concern should be our students — and the university president, the council of trustees, and the State System Board of Governors should also put the students, their well-being, and their success first.”
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