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UAB President Ray Watts, with Birmingham Mayor William Bell in the background, holds a press conference Jan. 9, 2015, in Birmingham, Alabama, to announce a new committee that will choose a financial firm to review the Carr report. (Frank Couch/fcouch@al.com)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - The UAB Faculty Senate expressed a lack of confidence in President Ray Watts' leadership at a meeting Thursday morning.

The senators, who represent each of the university's colleges, passed two resolutions by a wide margin. The resolution of no confidence in Watts expresses the faculty's concern over shared governance and an open decision-making process.

"Recent decisions by President Ray Watts were exercised in a manner that demonstrates no respect for, or commitment to, shared governance," the resolution says.

During President Watts' 22-month tenure, the resolution says, he has failed to apply principles of shared governance to selection of university administrative officers, disbanding of the athletic programs, changes in academic operations and changes in faculty benefits.

UAB FAR Frank Messina told the Faculty Senate in December that he was given no indication from Watts or a consulting group analyzing the university's athletics department that those programs could be on the chopping block.

The other resolution was a statement in support of UAB Athletics. It calls for "a comprehensive analysis of UAB Athletics that is transparent and includes consideration of campus-wide impact for discontinuation of any athletic program."

Both resolutions were proposed at the group's Dec. 9 meeting, a week after Watts announced the elimination of the football, bowling and rifle programs. In the intervening weeks, Faculty Senate members have talked to their respective schools to gauge interest and opinions.

Susan Key, a faculty senator from the School of Business, said all she had to do was listen to her constituents, and the faculty was almost unanimous in their support of the resolutions.

"We're business people," Key said. "I don't have any personal issues (with Watts), but he doesn't have the skills to be a manager."

A representative of the School of Medicine motioned to postpone the vote on the no confidence resolution until the senate's next meeting, saying Watts deserved an opportunity to enact the changes he's announced recently.

A senator from another school spoke out against that motion, saying it would be merely "kicking the can down the road."

The motion was shot down when taken to a vote.

Many of the senators expected the postponement to be suggested, but few thought it would be successful. In fact, Key thought waiting until January to vote was too late.

"I wanted to do this in December so we could maybe get the (football) team back," she said. "We want a full campus life, and Tuscaloosa has no right to interfere with us."

Senators voted on the resolutions anonymously using paper ballots that were counted three times. A detailed breakdown of the final votes - from 35 representatives - was not released, but there was "well over a two-thirds majority on both resolutions," Faculty Senate Chair Dr. Chad Epps said.

He has called a no-confidence vote "one of the most powerful statements that can be made" by a body that otherwise has limited power. Though Thursday's decision has little authority, it's a clear statement of where the faculty and students stand, he said.

The Undergraduate Student Government this week passed its own resolution of no confidence in Watts and, on behalf of the undergraduate student body released a report that criticized the decision-making process and laid out ways the administration could address their concerns.

The Graduate Student Government last week passed two resolutions - one expressing no confidence in Watts' leadership and another in support of athletics.

"My hope would be that the Board of Trustees would take this into consideration and recognize that it would be very difficult for UAB to move forward when you have a faculty, students and conditionally the alumni who have no confidence in the president," Epps said.

He has tried to continue an open dialogue with Watts, who calls regularly to discuss where things stand. Epps said he and other faculty members appreciate efforts to meet with different groups on campus and launch the UAB Forward initiative.

Shortly after the Faculty Senate's vote, Watts released a statement expressing his disappointment, noting that there is much work to be done. His statement in full:

"I'm obviously disappointed, but what this vote means to me is that I have more work to do to find common ground so we can move forward, and I am up to this challenge. I truly want to thank our students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters who have made their voices heard in a constructive way.

"We have a great university. We have thousands of talented people who are making world-changing breakthroughs right here in Birmingham at UAB.

"My focus moving forward is to work with our community to carry out our mission. As President I am totally committed to the future of UAB and the many great things we are doing here."

Key said that, until now, the Faculty Senate has been relatively weak compared to her experience at other universities. She hopes the resolution's passage shows the faculty, alumni, students and others that they are willing to take a stand.

On previous issues, the president, provost and other administrators have weighed in, and the Faculty Senate has "gone along," Key said.

"But they pushed us too far," she said. "This took courage."

Chuck Tuggle, a former UAB football player and longtime supporter of the university, was pleased with the vote, but said there is much more work ahead.

"I'm not pleased that it has to get to this point for Watts to understand," Tuggle said. "My hope is that it influences his decisions going forward."

Tuggle said he would like to see Watts and the administration reinstate the eliminated programs, and he wants to see an improved process for making future decisions.

"We're going to continue to fight, to move on and make sure things like this don't happen in the future," he said. "This doesn't end anything."