Youngstown State University's Academic Senate has overwhelmingly passed a vote of "no confidence" in the university's Board of Trustees and incoming president, Valley Congressman Bill Johnson.

According to a press release from the YSU OEA union, an email from Academic Senate Secretary Edmund Ickert states that 77 out of 95 members of the Academic Senate voted on the resolutions.

77.9% of senators supported the vote of no confidence in the process and 58% of senators approved the resolution of no confidence against Johnson.

The resolution against the selection process cited concerns of lack of shared governance, transparency, input from faculty, students and staff, "misleading" communication about the search, damages to campus climate and trust in YSU and the negative impacts on donors and alumni.

Meanwhile, the resolution against Johnson cited concerns about his qualifications for the role, as well as the damages done by the appointment of a partisan, the lack of interaction between Johnson and stakeholders during the process, Johnson's accusations of universities "indoctrinating" students and the disconnect between Johnson's stances on issues important to YSU's constituents and its mission and vision on being an "inclusive, diverse and equitable" campus.

According to the release, Associate Professor of Sociology and At-Large Senator Dr. Amanda Fehlbaum brought these two resolutions before the Academic Senate on December 6.

Senators including administrators, students and faculty had the opportunity to discuss the resolutions and offer amendments throughout the meeting.

"The process for moving these resolutions forward and having them approved by Senate was a transparent, inclusive, democratic process that all universities should follow. They were drafted in caucus, debated in the Senate, amended and voted on. The YSU community deserved a similarly open, inclusive process for choosing YSU’s president,” Dr. Fehlbaum said.