ST. PETER, MINN. -
To a visitor at Gustavus Adolphus College, as the spring semester gets underway all seems to be business as usual. But amid the lectures and lesson plans, there is growing unrest.
Physics Professor Dr. Mellema says, "It is strictly about one person and one person only, President Ohle whose decision making is often capricious, his priorities that don't seem to us to coincide with the priorities of the institution."
Political Science Professor Dr. Alisa Rosenthal says, "The sooner president Ohle leaves the college the better it will be for us."
Rosenthal says issues initially arose during President Jack Ohle's first year, when the provost stepped down citing a reduction of responsibility.
That resignation was followed by two academic deans stepping down, citing lack of support from the president.
Rosenthal says, "And I think for everybody or almost everybody that was a real signal that something was wrong with the academic programs support from the presidents office, or lack there of."
Faculty members say their concerns were never fully addressed, and from there, faith in the president has continued to deteriorate.
Mellema says, "He very much makes his own unilateral decision, he doesn't take the advice of his cabinet or other people, he is very much a Lone Ranger."
The president and board initially dismissed faculty concerns saying they came from a small group of vocal critics, but leaked survey results show otherwise. The latest results from a narrative study done last spring show input from 77 faculty members, only one of which is positive.
Rosenthal says, "It's really clear that this is a widely held and deeply felt position of at a minimum the majority of the faculty and I think it is hard to point to any evidence that it is not."
At the end of last semester, the faculty senate formally called for Ohle's resignation, and petitions from students and alumni are asking the same.
Junior Kelly Dumais says, "We are seeing professors and mentors being pulled away from this campus, people are leaving Gustavus because of his administration."
A spokesman for the college said neither Ohle nor board members were granting interviews on the faculty's concerns, but the board did release a statement saying that, "The board is reviewing closely the concerns of those students and faculty and will respond appropriately." Adding that,"Institutions of higher education are in an ever more rapidly changing environment and such changes have caused concerns with those accustomed to its more traditions structures."
Rosenthal says the problem is more than a just difference of opinions.
Rosenthal says, "The objection here isn't to Jack Ohle having a CEO mindset, the objection is to him not being a good CEO."
Senior Eric Halvorson says, "Gustavus is place that teaches difficult things for the people and places we love and this is what Gustavus is about."
The president's contract runs out in June 2014, over the semester the board will do an evaluation of the president and from there can decide anything from ending his presidency immediately, to extending his contract.
The statement from the board also said that over the past four years Gustavus has had increased student enrollment as well as a substantial increase in giving to the college.
Amid the controversy as whistle–blowing website called GustieLeaks has also emerged as a way for students and faculty to unanimously publicize documents related years of grievances against Ohle.
