University of Missouri Faculty Council approves motion to censure Chancellor Choi

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri Faculty Council on Thursday approved a motion to censure the school's top official.

The motion rebukes MU Chancellor Mun Choi, saying he failed to read advice from a committee that recommends faculty promotion and tenure. The censure motion does not carry any kind of sanction with it and is merely a statement of disapproval.

The UM System's rules require leaders to read the committee's written recommendations before making determinations on promotion and tenure.

"There is no particular impact of this statement … it does not fit within our (regulations) and the Faculty Council has not been empowered by board of curators or state to censure the chancellor," MU law professor Dennis Crouch said during the meeting.

Julia Brncic, chair of the UM Board of Curators, said in an emailed statement Friday that the faculty members' allegations were misleading. In addition to his role as Columbia campus chancellor, Choi is president of the UM System.

“The MU Faculty Council’s censure of President Mun Choi approved by a small group of 12 members asserted that he showed a lack of care and thoroughness in tenure promotion and review. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Brncic said. “President Choi and Provost Latha Ramchand performed rigorous and comprehensive reviews of information provided by departmental committees, department chairs, college committees, deans and campus committees. The Board stands behind the integrity of President Choi’s reviews and is committed to upholding high academic standards to achieve excellence.”   

The resolution asked Choi to provide a written response. In that response, Choi said he carefully reviewed 61 cases up for tenure or promotion and denied seven of them.

The response said Choi was already aware of how the promotion and tenure committee voted in those cases "and the additional detail from the letters did not change his decisions."