Two decades into its operations, CSU Channel Islands is at a watershed moment, trying to rewrite its academic program even as enrollment has plummeted in recent years.
Meanwhile, tension is building between university faculty and its administration.
In May, CSUCI’s faculty union released a petition against School of Education Dean Elizabeth Reilly, citing problematic behavior. A library staffer who university leaders demoted in June over a confidentiality breach drew wide support from fellow faculty who decried the discipline as harsh.
On May 14, the university’s Academic Senate took action on at least some of that discontent. With 29 votes in favor, 9 against and 7 abstaining, the body that represents all 446 faculty, voted to censure Provost Mitch Avila, according to Senate President Jason Miller.
This was all on top of the CSU system's statewide contract woes involving thousands of faculty. The union came to an agreement with CSUCI leaders in February only after walking out on the first day of a planned weeklong strike.
Several faculty who spoke with the Star said morale is at a historic low.
"We all are grumpy, but it's because we ... really do care about our students and the institution," said communication professor Christina Smith.
The May 14 resolution has no formal effect but calls on university President Richard Yao to address what the resolution characterized as patterns in Avila’s actions that unsettled trust with faculty.
The five-page resolution includes an itemized list of Avila’s actions during hiring processes and day-to-day management that it claims broke procedure, constituted unfair practices or crossed the line in other ways.
“Provost Avila’s management practices create a toxic work environment that has demoralized both faculty and staff,” the resolution reads.
Greg Wood, a physics professor and faculty union president, said he was not aware of any response from Yao’s office.
Nancy Gill, a university spokesperson, said in an email that Yao is still waiting on the approved resolution to be formally delivered to the president's office. The president can't officially comment until a resolution or policy is officially received, she said.
What does the censure resolution mean?
Avila said he met with some faculty in the weeks before the vote to address some of the details of what was then a draft document. The vote passed anyway.
In an interview earlier this month, Avila said he’d spoken with a few supportive faculty who reached out after the vote — much of university business pauses in the summer months — but like Yao, had not taken any larger steps to address the issues raised in the censure.
“I'm not sure, officially, what we're supposed to do,” he said. “The senate said this is important to them … there’s no sort of required action that needs to take place.”
Wood, who also helped draft the resolution, said the vote captures the degree of concern among faculty at what he described as a shift "toward top-down leadership" versus faculty participation in institutional decision-making.
Avila acknowledged that faculty’s role on campus has diminished since the university’s smaller early days but said the shift is “just part of the natural maturation of all campuses at this age.”
Last year, the 4,764-student university launched a four-year plan that would add two dozen new degree programs, both undergraduate and graduate. University leaders said they hope the plan will broaden one of the CSU system’s smallest academic catalogs and recruit students to boost flagging enrollment.
The provost said most of his decisions are made in consultation with other campus staff and that confidentiality restrictions have made it difficult to explain some of his more unpopular calls.
“I know people are not always happy with the outcome of the decisions,” Avila said. “If you haven't been in the role, you don't sort of know this.”
Avila contested an assertion in the resolution that the university has dedicated too much of its budget to hiring administrators over faculty. Most recent top-level hires, he said, have been to fill vacancies.
What are CSU Channel Islands faculty’s concerns?
The main concern on campus is that faculty have not had a meaningful voice in the decision-making, according to Smith, who is also the senate’s incoming chair.
She added that not all campus issues are the administration’s fault. The CSUCI campus dealt with several other big hurdles in the last few years, including the pandemic, declining enrollments and a lack of funds, Smith said.
“But I think with all these problems, feeling that you don't have a voice in it, it kind of makes it really hard for people,” she said.
She said that the university has also seen cuts to classes despite faculty expressing concerns about it.
Sean Kelly, a political science professor, agreed, adding that cuts to instruction move CSUCI away from student retention and graduation.
“In our department, we were cut absolutely to the bone. We are teaching only required courses, and you typically can't finish a major without some electives,” he said.
What happened to CSUCI librarian Janet Pinkley?
Some faculty cite the case of Janet Pinkley as an example of the university's antagonism.
Pinkley, a supervising librarian who has been at CSUCI for 17 years, served on a search committee for the dean of the library in fall 2023. By February 2024, she was facing disciplinary action.
The university said Pinkley broke confidentiality rules by sharing the committee’s recommendations, including candidates’ information with her colleague Monica Pereira, who was on the senate’s executive committee.
At a disciplinary hearing, Pinkley said she only did so after her concerns about policy violations by the provost went unaddressed by the search committee chair, university human resources and other appropriate channels.
Pereira, who forwarded the information to other executive committee members, was also disciplined. Both library employees had recently achieved the professor rank and were tenured.
According to letters sent by the provost to Pinkley and Pereira and received by The Star this month after multiple public records requests, the women faced 20 days of unpaid suspension, demotions, a pay cut aligning with the demotion — a $348 salary decrease per month for Pinkley and prohibition from serving as program or department chair or on hiring or evaluation committees until the academic year 2026-2027.
In Pereira’s case, this included her removal as department chair.
She settled with CSUCI. The university agreed to withdraw her unpaid suspension and pay cut and Pereira agreed to the demotion.
Pinkley chose not to settle and requested a public hearing instead.
On May 8, Pinkley and other witnesses gave testimony to determine whether the university had cause for discipline and if the discipline proposed by the provost was appropriate.
Pinkley’s lawyer, Michael J. DeNiro, said at the hearing that she did not violate confidentiality since the information was already made public. During questioning, Director of Human Resources Laurie Nichols affirmed that the provost had previously shared confidential information about one of the candidates.
Afterward, the faculty hearing committee submitted its findings to Yao in a report, concluding that while some form of discipline was warranted, committee members supported a reduced sanction of 10 days of unpaid suspension with no demotion or permanent pay cut.
The president disagreed with the committee’s recommendation. In a June 6 email sent to Pinkley, the president waived the 20 days of unpaid suspension but upheld all other disciplinary actions initially put forth by the provost, including a demotion from supervising librarian to librarian and an accompanying pay cut.
Pinkley and her lawyer refused to comment, fearing further action against her.
A library staff member who asked not to be identified fearing retaliation said that Pinkley was trying to bring attention to how the provost “overrides policies and rigs search committees to pick the candidates he wants.”
‘No faith in my senior administration’
Matthew Cook is a research and instruction librarian at the John Spoor Broome Library and taught at CSUCI for over 12 years. Even tenured faculty members like him are hesitant to speak up and fear retaliation, he said.
Cook took an early retirement plan in 2023 that allows him to work part-time.
“Part of the reason I retired is because I have no faith in my senior administration. I don't believe that they are concerned about faculty and shared governance," he said.
Referring to Pinkey’s public hearing Cook said, “I felt that it was very unfair.”
Kelly, who has taught at CSUCI since 2007 and served on several committees, said that the leadership problem extends beyond the provost to Yao, as the president lacks relevant experience as an administrator.
He added the disciplinary action against Pinkley “is all about retaliation and nothing else.”
Avila flatly denied any attempt at retaliation.
“We have no reason to retaliate against the faculty,” he said. “That's just a baseless accusation.”
Can progress be made?
The fall semester begins in August. If faculty continue to feel disgruntled with the administration, the next recourse will be a vote of no confidence in the president.
Wood, the physics professor, said that he’s hopeful for a productive conversation with the administration. The resolution also states that "the situation is not yet beyond repair," citing several instances where the provost has supported faculty.
“We do believe progress can be made,” Wood said.
Smith, who has been at CSUCI for more than 10 years, still thinks positively.
“I'm going to be optimistic and say that the censure encourages our administration to work more robustly on facilitating shared governance with faculty at Channel Islands," she said.
While some faculty believe the university is in dire straits, many, like Smith, agree that concerted efforts by the leadership to solicit faculty feedback — and engage with it in a meaningful way — can be a way forward.
Dua Anjum is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at dua.anjum@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism.
Isaiah Murtaugh covers education for the Ventura County Star in partnership with Report for America. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236 and follow him on Twitter @isaiahmurtaugh and @vcsschools. You can support this work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.
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