Last updated: 9:39 p.m., U.S. Eastern time
The University of North Texas system's Board of Regents on Friday voted to accept the resignation of President Gretchen M. Bataille after an emotionally charged meeting in which about a dozen students and faculty members urged the regents to keep her on. The vote was 7 to 2.
A few members of the audience wept after the vote, and others angrily denounced what many speculate was a forced resignation. Ms. Bataille, who was selected as the first female president of the flagship university, in 2006, did not give a reason for her decision, which she announced on Wednesday.
"She is well loved on this campus, and her resignation has nothing to do with problems with students or faculty members," said Dakota Carter, a senior who is president of the university's Student Government Association. "This was completely back-door, behind-the-scenes, political craziness" by the Board of Regents, he said. "We're in a state of shock. This is a sad day for UNT."
By Friday evening, a Facebook page called "Fight to Keep President Bataille!" had 820 members.
Some members of the audience, who braved snowy conditions after a record storm on Thursday that closed the Denton campus through Friday, wore green armbands to show their support for the president (the university's colors are green and white).
The regents named Phil C. Diebel, a former vice president for finance, as interim president.
According to the details of a severance agreement, which was provided to The Chronicle on Friday, the board granted the president leave with pay from March 1 to May 31, a period when she will be available to help with the transition to a new president. On June 1 she will receive severance pay of $598,625 to cover her salary through August 31, 2011, when her contract had been scheduled to end.
Starting this June, she will take on a yearlong research position with the university's College of Education, for which she will receive an extra $150,000, to continue her "leadership and vision in advancing higher education for the university, the state, region, and nation."
Ms. Bataille, who is a tenured professor of English, will be recommended for a joint appointment in the education department. If approved, she could begin a faculty position in the fall of 2011 that would pay $139,000 for nine months. The system will also pay her legal fees, up to $20,000.
Tension With System Chancellor
The reasons for Ms. Bataille's sudden and unexpected departure remained a mystery on Friday, but many at the meeting noted that it came at a time of growing tensions between her and the system's chancellor, Lee F. Jackson.
The president opposed how the chancellor moved key system offices from Denton, which is about 40 miles north of Dallas, to downtown Dallas, where the university has a satellite campus and a newly approved law school.
In a job evaluation of the president in May, the chancellor also expressed concern about the amount of research support the university was receiving. Faculty members who back the president pointed out, however, that she has worked aggressively to promote the university to the status of a top-tier research university and that research support has increased significantly during her presidency. Ms. Bataille has also worked vigorously to increase the university's national stature — a strength the chancellor noted in his evaluation.
Ms. Bataille has not responded to requests for an interview.
Mr. Jackson declined an interview request on Friday but released the following statement, in which he thanked the president for her leadership: "I personally recruited Dr. Bataille to come to the University of North Texas four years ago. I recommended her to the board, and I have supported and defended her when I believed it was in the best interests of the university. I am disappointed by this conclusion of her term, but I am confident, and our board is determined, that this change will not prevent UNT from continuing to move forward.
"As with any large organization, there were concerns that needed to be addressed," the statement continued. "Efforts to improve working relationships and communications with the system and the board have been under way for the past year, and we recently resolved our discussions with a mutually agreed resignation."
Mr. Jackson and the board's chairman, C. Dan Smith, released a statement Friday evening defending the board's vote and pledging that the university will continue to pursue the goals Ms. Bataille put in place.
'Doesn't Make Sense'
The university’s provost, Wendy K. Wilkins, said on Friday she was shocked and saddened by the president’s announcement. "I don’t believe she wanted to leave," Ms. Wilkins said. "She wouldn’t have made the commitment to the university and to the various initiatives she started and then leave. It doesn’t make sense."
Ms. Wilkins added that the president had been "very professional" in declining to reveal the specific disagreements she might have had with the chancellor.
At the board meeting a representative of the Faculty Senate read a statement praising Ms. Bataille.
"Her outstanding, dedicated, and bold leadership has helped to carve a path toward research-university status for UNT," it said. "She has shown outstanding vision, accessibility to faculty and students, enthusiasm and energy, innovative plans for achieving research status, and a true passion for moving UNT forward in a positive and collegial manner."
The statement went on to say that the senate's executive committee is "greatly concerned at her resignation and particularly the manner in which this resignation was presented to the public. Faculty, staff, and students need to be informed about this far-reaching decision. Based upon Dr. Bataille's successes as president of UNT, we believe this course of action may not be in the best interest of the faculty and the future of the University of North Texas."
Regents, who are all appointed by the governor, selected Mr. Jackson as chancellor in 2002. He is a former Texas legislator and Dallas County judge.
G. Brint Ryan, one of the two regents who voted against accepting the president's resignation, said he was sorry to see her go. "All I can say is that I have strongly supported Dr. Bataille, and I am very regretful that she won't be continuing," said Mr. Ryan, who owns a large accounting firm and is a major university donor.
This is the second time in less than a year that a female president of a public university in Texas resigned after a dispute with the system's chancellor. In June, Elsa A. Murano stepped down as president of Texas A&M University's flagship campus, in College Station, after a heated battle with the system's chancellor, Michael D. McKinney.
Both chancellors are former Republican state politicians, and both women were the first female presidents of their respective campuses.
Paul Fain contributed to this article.
Comments
1. davi2665 - February 12, 2010 at 04:02 pm
Just as many of us suspected, this resignation had nothing to do with research stature and funding, fund raising, or academic issues. It had to do with the usual nasty, manipulative, underhanded politics of powerbrokers on the board who love to exert their authority and control everyone under them. Best guess- the next president will be male and will be a good ol' boy crony of the chancellor.
2. ready_to_retire - February 12, 2010 at 04:37 pm
An accountant without a PhD as interim president???
3. 11262324 - February 12, 2010 at 04:45 pm
Well, if the truth be known, she didn't raise enough money to build that $70 million football stadium. UNT....a Tier I research institution? Ever try and turn an oil tanker around in half a mile?!
4. azfaculty - February 12, 2010 at 05:00 pm
Dr. Bataille worked in Arizona close to the beginning of her administrative career and she was superb. Sounds like UNT made a grave mistake.
5. 12096904 - February 12, 2010 at 06:56 pm
Regents are appointments by the govenor. While many are dedicated to the mission of the university many others are there as a result of cronyism, or political "payback". There is no other explanation for so many regents being so inept in terms of academics or university business. They simply act in a role they are not suited to in terms of either business skills or intellect. Governor Perry or his successor needs to take the responsibility of appointing regents with more gravity. I think ready_to_retire alludes to this point very well. Mr. Jackson appears to be a fish out of water with a political agenda. Was getting rid of a President at a cost to the state of $598,625, in a time of budget challenges, a wise or justified action. Probably not.
6. arctodus - February 13, 2010 at 04:05 am
I am a UNT prof; we are now Narnia without our Aslan! We have returned to days of a vision being forced upon us. The Chancellor had the nerve to send correspondence to all faculty stating that the Tier 1 dream is still alive. He also had the nerve to tell us that our opinions matter to him... nonsense. We followed because Gretchen led; we will not "go" because the Chancellor "points." We will likely get no support from Gov. Perry; see Texas A&M. The Interim "President" is not just an accountant, BTW; he is "the accountant" who kept UNT in the dark ages for 30 years.
7. cuzincall - February 13, 2010 at 07:16 am
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8. just_breathe - February 13, 2010 at 08:05 am
I personally think that the personnel decisions that she made have been, for the most part, good for the university. We had many administrators that were not effective and had no vision for taking UNT to the next level. Her depature will set UNT back 20 years. What a loss!
9. cuzincall - February 13, 2010 at 08:29 am
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10. wwholly - February 13, 2010 at 11:09 am
Remember the story of the 3 blind men and the elephant? One's perception can be very distorted depending on where you stand. With time the blind folds may come off and you'll be able to see the whole picture. Such is life.
11. cuzincall - February 13, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I personally am always looking to develop better site and I turst my fellow "wwholly" is doing the same.
Wanty to borrow my glasses?
12. athenson - February 15, 2010 at 02:31 pm
Lee Jackson has been Chancellor of the University of North Texas for eight years. During that time, I cannot recall a single speech he has made, any article he has written, or even a statement he has released to the public in which he has expressed a desire to advance the interests of the university in Denton or to promote its potential. His sole interest appears to be the goal of advancing the powers of the System Office and the Dallas satellite at the expense of the main campus. Even if this perception of him and the Regents is wrong, they need to address these concerns. The UNT community feels it has lost control of its own Board of Regents.
13. someone - February 15, 2010 at 03:09 pm
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14. academic_president - February 15, 2010 at 03:30 pm
UNT-Dallas will have the new UNT law school and the chancellor is a lawyer. For my money, the chancellor-lawyer pressured the president-English teacher to see things his way. She had bigger ones that he did and therefore told him NO. I have had email interaction with Gretchen in the past and my opinion is that she is very ethical. In this case, she acted on principle and did not betray hers - a rarity in universities, business, and government leadership. As far as Mr. Jackson's criticism of Ms. Bataille is concerned, if one wants to find fault with someone, it's fairly easy to do, especially in the public arena. UNT could have become a Tier 1 in Texas but with this disruption has ditched its chances for another ten years.
15. demiurgic - February 15, 2010 at 05:00 pm
Note the article below the Bataille retirement announcement. UNC president Erskine Bowles also announced his retirement on Friday. Bataille was Sr VP of Academic Affairs at UNC until her 2007 move to UNT.
These retirements were announced as former NC governor Mike Easley is embroiled in a federal investigation and UNC stands accused of the back-office creation of a controversial and highly paid academic position for Easley's unqualified wife Mary at NCSU (which is part of the UNC system). The former NCSU provost promptly gave Ms. Easley an 88% pay raise even as the state of NC was exceeding 4 billion in debt and it is unclear how often Easley actually worked on campus.
NCSU chancellor James Oblinger resigned after the creation of this position became public, and UNC president Erskine Bowles offered Oblinger his full salary of $420,000 (that's $35,000 a month) for 6 months, despite the fact that the state is in the midst of a budget crisis.
UNC's Board of Governors overrode this agreement and cut Oblinger's salary to $173,000 annually (to teach food science). Mary Easley's contract was terminated. Mary Easley promptly initiated a formal grievance against NCSU for wrongful termination. And the US Attorney's Office announced that it was unable to recover IOblingers' missing emails about the hiring of Mary Easley.
Meanwhile, in this federal cover-up investigation, Ruffin Poole (Gov. Easley's former aid) was indicted on Jan. 21 for 51-counts, including bribery, extortion, fraud, racketeering, money laundering, and engaging in transactions in "criminally derived" property. And the investigation continues. See
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6854336
http://www.alumni.ncsu.edu/blog/tag/mary-easley/
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/310/story/82821.html
http://civitasreview.com/tag/mike-easley/
16. colt123 - February 15, 2010 at 06:20 pm
At tiny, micro-systems such as the UNT System, it must be nearly irresistable for a chancellor to stop himself from meddling at the institutional level.
Texas does not need the expense of six(!) university systems. Rationalization should occur. The very first system to collapse and eliminate should be the tiny UNT "System." Millions and millions of dollars could be saved every year without any negative effect.
UNT in Denton would be far better served and advance more quickly by aligning itself with one of the larger, more professionally run systems of Texas.
17. athenson - February 16, 2010 at 03:16 pm
I don't think this conflict has anything to do with liberal vs. conservative politics or with gender issues, as some posters have suggested. The problem began in 2002 when the offices of Chancellor and University President were split by the UNT Board of Regents. The regents were apparently mesmerized by the success at Texas Tech of John Montford, the politician turned Chancellor. Unfortunately, Lee Jackson is no John Montford, who, unlike Jackson, had real clout with the Texas legislature. Montford also cared about the success and potential of Tech and was an effective public spokesman for the university he represented. Jackson, judging from his lack of public presentations or expressions concerning UNT, is merely indifferent toward the university of which he is the Chancellor. The behavior of the UNT Board of Regents is harder to explain; the majority are UNT graduates, but it appears their experience in corporate board rooms overrides whatever attachment they once had to their alma mater. For a small system like the UNT system with all components in the same metropolitan area, the most efficient arrangement would be to return to the situation before 2002 in which the President of the University is also the Chancellor of the system.
18. 11229289 - February 17, 2010 at 04:18 pm
What is it with Texas higher ed? This is the third female president to resign this year! It appears that Texas leadership sees itself as "males only" need to apply.