Northland Community and Technical College faculty take vote of ‘no confidence’ in president
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ST. PAUL, Minnesota. May 10, 2023 — The faculty of the two campuses that comprise Northland Community and Technical College have taken an overwhelming vote of no confidence in college President Sandra Kiddoo and are calling for a leadership change.
The faculty concluded voting on May 2. With 88 percent of Northland faculty participating, 96 percent voted “no confidence” in Kiddoo’s leadership. The vote results were formally presented to Minnesota State Chancellor Devinder Malhotra on May 5. The information has not been officially presented to Scott Olsen, the incoming chancellor named on Tuesday by the trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
“We believe President Kiddoo’s leadership poses a significant threat to the quality of education we deliver and the service we provide to our region,” said Brent Braga, president of the faculty on the East Grand Forks campus. “Northland faculty are frustrated with the nature of President Kiddoo’s leadership. We believe that Northland will be best served by a new leader.”
President Dorinda Sorvig of the Thief River Falls MSCF chapter said: “The faculty at Northland Community and Technical College determined that it was time for this action. We are committed to our students and to providing a quality education for them. This vote was necessary to prevent a decrease in the quality of education. Under the current president, we have lost experienced and long-term staff, faculty, and administrators this past academic year. The college is lacking in leadership, vision, financial stability, and collaboration with all employees with the current leader.“
The Northland faculty named many areas of concern in a climate survey distributed in February, saying faculty had serious worries about Kiddoo’s performance in several key areas, including:
- Ability to lead the college in a positive direction
- Stewardship of the college’s financial resources
- Failure to treat faculty respectfully
- Lack of communication with faculty
- Retaliation against faculty for expressing their opinions
Braga and Sorvig are presidents of the Minnesota State College Faculty union chapters at Northland’s East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls campuses. MSCF represents faculty at the two-year colleges in the Minnesota State system and is affiliated with Education Minnesota, the statewide union of more than 86,000 educators working in E-12 schools and college campuses across the state.
About Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota is the voice for professional educators and students. Education Minnesota’s members include teachers and education support professionals in Minnesota’s public school districts, faculty members at Minnesota’s community and technical colleges and University of Minnesota campuses in Duluth and Crookston, retired educators and student teachers. Education Minnesota is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.
