David at fault for much of FAMU administration's poor treatment of faculty

Provost Marcella David and Faculty Senate President Bettye A. Grable

FAMU Provost Marcella David could become the acting university president on Thursday. That’s when the FAMU Board of Trustees (BOT) is scheduled to vote on a proposed exit plan for President Elmira Mangum.

David has been at the center of numerous public complaints that FAMU faculty members have about the current administration.

In her 2014-2015 evaluation of Mangum, some of Faculty Senate President and BOT member Bettye A. Grable’s biggest criticisms were about a lack of shared governance.

Grable wrote that “the decision to move the [FAMU-FSU College of Engineering’s] budget control to FSU was based on a unilateral approval without the prior approval by the Board of Trustees and other constituents.”

David is a member of the new Joint College of Engineering Governance Council that helped FSU President John Thrasher put an end to the 28 years of FAMU budget control of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering (COE). The decided in 2015 that it was going to start calling the shots on the COE operating budget. On May 20, 2015, David and the rest of the Joint Council members voted unanimously to shift the COE fiscal agent duties from FAMU to FSU.

Grable said in her 2015-2016 evaluation of Mangum that the lack of shared governance is still a problem. She wrote that: “There are still committees/former councils that exclude faculty from their proceedings such as the former dean's council as specified in the University Constitution and By-Laws.”

The dean’s council is part of the Division of Academic Affairs that is headed by David in her position as provost.

There are also faculty members who have said that David has treated them in an unprofessional manner.

On June 3, 2016, FAMU School of Business and Industry Professor Annette Singleton Jackson wrote an open letter to the faculty that included the details of some of her own experiences with David.

“I personally dropped into the Provost’s office, only to be treated like persona non-grata,” Jackson wrote. “When I emailed for an appointment, that request was ignored. When trustees lauded my achievement of a pending Fulbright Award during a Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Committee meeting, our provost rolled her eyes. Nice touch, by the way, and a great way to win friends and influence people and show your maturity and respect of the faculty and our accomplishments.”

David is at fault for much of the poor treatment of the FAMU faculty. She hasn’t shown the leadership skills that are needed to be a strong provost, let alone at president.