DANVERS — The union representing faculty and staff at North Shore Community College has taken a vote of no confidence in the school’s president and provost.
In a statement to the college community, the union said President William Heineman and Provost Jennifer Mezquita have created new “highly compensated” nonunion and executive roles in nonacademic areas while leaving academic areas “woefully understaffed” and “neglected.”
The statement also accused college leaders of passing over qualified internal candidates for newly created roles and creating a “culture of favoritism and fear” in which workers not protected by a union or tenure “are afraid to speak up for fear they will be terminated.”
“Faculty, staff, and union leadership have individually over the course of the last year, brought concerns to the president and provost only to have those concerns met with, at times, outright hostility or more often empty words of agreement and understanding only to be followed with inaction,” the statement said. “We now speak unified with one voice.”
The vote by the union was 94-0, with three abstaining. The statement was signed by Torrey Dukes, the North Shore Community College chapter president of the Massachusetts Community College Council, the union that represents faculty and professional staff at the state’s 15 community colleges. Dukes is the coordinator of public services at the college’s Lynn campus library. She did return a message for this story.
In a statement, J.D. LaRock, chair of the college’s board of trustees, said trustees “remain steadfast in our support of Dr. Heineman and Dr. Mezquita and look forward to continuing to work with the (union) and all members of our community to foster an environment that fully supports our faculty, staff and students.”
North Shore Community College is a two-year school with campuses in Danvers and Lynn and about 10,000 students. The average age of a student is 26, and the majority of students are employed.
Heineman has been president of North Shore Community College since July 2021. He was previously provost at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill and Lawrence. Heineman created the provost position at North Shore Community College, and Mezquita, a former vice president of student affairs at Northern Essex, was selected for the position in June 2022.
The no-confidence vote follows a walkout by faculty and staff at North Shore Community in December over pay. In 2020, the union took a vote of no confidence in the college administration, which was then led by President Patricia Gentile.
In its statement, the union cited the recent termination of the college’s assistant provost as a “catalyst” for the no-confidence vote. The union said the assistant provost’s departure left the college without an academic officer who has “the depth and breadth of knowledge needed” to help write the college’s five-year accreditation report.
The union said it opposed the plan for Mezquita to assume the responsibilities of the assistant provost of academic affairs. On Monday, the college announced that Chris Bednar, the dean of liberal studies at the school, had assumed the role of interim assistant provost for academic affairs/chief academic officer.
The union said changes made to the president’s cabinet, including the removal of representatives for the academic divisions, sent a “clear signal that the academic life of the institution was not a priority of the executive leadership” and “have isolated the president and have further marginalized faculty and staff.” The union called for a union faculty member and professional staff member to be appointed to the cabinet.
The union also called for better communication and transparency in regard to decisions, “especially those made by the provost.”
“We have lost all confidence in the provost, and see very few paths forward,” the statement said. “The concentration of power and complete lack of transparency has created an atmosphere of distrust and fear. We can not emphasize this point enough.”
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.
