UA President Apologizes to UAA Faculty

This is going to be a short post.   I've raised some questions in the last week or so about the appointment of the UA Chancellor.  Today, UA President Patrick Gamble came to talk to the Faculty Senate. (He'd spoken to the University Assembly just before.)  I don't have time to sort through all that was said, but I'll briefly summarize:

• The President apologized
• Acknowledged he'd made a mistake
• Acknowledged he didn't understand the meaning of 'shared governance' the way the University understood it
• Listened to some pretty heated faculty
• Listened to some less heated faculty
• Explained his thinking process when he made the decision on the Chancellor

My sense is that he was genuine.  That he hadn't realized the huge difference in organizational culture between the Air Force, Alaska Railroad, and University of Alaska. I felt that the faculty accepted his apology, but were less sanguine than the president about how quickly he's going to be able to adapt to the vocabulary and ways of this institution.  But he proved that he will listen, acknowledge mistakes, and apologize. 

I think that this is a good first step.  I'll post more about the meeting later, but that will take a while to sort through.  For those who are interested in what happened, I at least want to get this out.  Below is a short clip of the President apologizing.






Other posts on this topic:
The Alaska Military-Educational Complex: Gen. Tom Case to be New UAA Chancellor 

UAA Faculty Senate Upset about Chancellor Appointment Process

Former Lt. Gov Craig Campbell Replaces Tom Case as Head of Alaska Aerospace Corporation


Choosing a Chancellor:  One Decision, Two Cultures