LINCOLN - As the University of Nebraska-Lincoln continues to wrestle with significant budget cuts, faculty leaders will call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Rodney Bennett later this month. The UNL Faculty Senate overwhelmingly approved a procedural motion Tuesday to bring the largely symbolic resolution criticizing Bennett’s leadership up for a vote on Nov. 18.

Fifty faculty senators voted in favor of scheduling the emergency vote, while four voted against it. There were no abstentions. Bennett’s office declined to comment after Tuesday’s meeting.

The action follows a separate faculty committee's review of Bennett’s plan to close a $27.5 million structural budget deficit at the state’s largest public university campus, which expressed disapproval of several items proposed. Bennett proposed eliminating six academic programs and merging several others as cost-saving strategies, but faculty, students and staff from those departments have pushed back, questioning the methods used and conclusions drawn by the leadership team. The chancellor’s response to the recommendations put forward by the Academic Planning Committee, the group charged with reviewing the proposals, could be made public later this month, roughly mirroring the potential timeline for a no-confidence vote.

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