UW Board Of Trustees Issues Statement On President Seidel

The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees has issued a statement of support for UW President Ed Seidel.

Statement Follows Faculty No-Confidence Vote

The statement follows a no confidence vote in Seidel by the Faculty Senate on Monday. That vote was 43-11, with faculty members calling Seidel's leadership "unacceptable."

In response, the Trustees have issued a statement which includes the following:

''We understand that the Board of Trustees’ decision to terminate Dr. Wright’s leadership of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences has raised questions and concerns across campus and among UW’s constituents. The dean’s dismissal, combined with past administrative and other changes, has caused disruption and growing concern about how shared governance has been implemented at the university. These concerns have raised important questions about how decisions are made, how voices are included and how we live out our core values in practice.

Importantly, the Faculty Senate’s no-confidence resolution urges the board “to act immediately to engage with the faculty and other constituent groups on campus to collaboratively develop corrective actions to re-establish an atmosphere of mutual respect, with the goal of rebuilding trust and a willingness to work together, and to ensure a more transparent and inclusive decision-making process guided by the University of Wyoming’s principles and regulations regarding shared governance.”

That is what we intend to do. We thank the Faculty Senate for its hard work and thoughtful input.

The board takes these matters seriously. A strong, transparent and inclusive approach to governance is essential -- not just for the health of the university, but for the trust placed in us by the people of Wyoming and by the thousands of alumni who continue to support and champion this institution.

In response, the board has directed President Seidel and Interim Provost Scott Turpen to lead a thorough and inclusive review of how shared governance is currently being operationalized across the university. We expect this process to include meaningful dialogue about what is working, what must be improved and how we can strengthen the relationships and trust that must exist to achieve our mission.

Separate from this commitment, the trustees took an action -- one that we stand behind -- in removing the dean of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. Due to the concerns and questions that have arisen on campus and beyond, we feel compelled to provide more detail on the difficult decision to remove the dean. The president had recommended  to not renew the dean’s contract and allow it to expire in 2026, but the Board of Trustees decided to remove the dean now based upon observations and interactions during our March meeting, when the dean was unable to articulate a vision for meeting the goals of the Tier-1 Engineering Initiative after several years of opportunity to advance the college to meet those goals.

We reiterate that the decision to remove the dean was based solely on his performance -- not on the dean’s objections to a possible, relatively minor proposed funding shift designed from the outset to protect the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences’ interests and compliance with the Tier-1 goals as the planned transition of the School of Computing into a stand-alone unit was effectuated.

While acknowledging the Faculty Senate’s no-confidence resolution, we unanimously affirm our support for both President Seidel and our commitment to shared governance of the university.''

Seidel has served as President of the University of Wyoming since 2020.