Oregon Tech faculty call for president’s resignation

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Institute of Technology’s faculty senate has called for university president Nagi Naganathan’s resignation, but school administrators say he has no plans to leave his post.

The Herald and News reports the senate approved the resolution this week, saying faculty had lost confidence in Naganathan’s leadership.

“This is not knee-jerk,” Professor Don McDonnell said. “This is not COVID. This is not union negotiations.”

McDonnell told the Herald and News that faculty feel that the change Naganathan is instituting is detrimental to the school.

McDonnell, who is a professor of medical imaging technology at the school, will present the resolution to Naganathan asking him to resign. If Naganathan declines, all full-time faculty will vote on whether they have confidence in Naganathan’s leadership in late March.

McDonnell said he would give a presentation to the Board of Trustees, who then have the power to remove Naganathan or keep him in office, on April 8.

Chair of the Board of Trustees Jessica Gomez says board members she has spoken to are happy with the university's direction and fully support Naganathan’s leadership.

She said that the resolution declaring no confidence stems from a labor dispute.

“I understand that the faculty senate might be frustrated in some ways,” said Gomez. “But over the last four years under Dr. Naganathan’s leadership, we have seen some of the biggest investments in Oregon Tech for probably the last 20 years.”

Read more at: https://apnews.com/article/technology-klamath-falls-oregon-9bad2a8d941779109c0bf0b25057abd3