Health and Social Sciences Building 113 Wilder Street, Suite 200 Lowell, MA 01854-3058 tel.: 978-934-4525 fax: 978-934-2015
SOLOMONT SCHOOL OF NURSING Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
Office of the Dean, Solomont School of Nursing and Vice Dean of the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
June 16, 2020 Dear Chancellor Moloney and Provost Hartman, As I am sure you are aware, Dean Shortie McKinney fired me yesterday. I am writing to express my concern for the future of the SSON. The oft raised voices of our faculty have gone unheard and with nothing left to lose, I feel a responsibility to try once more. This spring, the faculty met with Provost Hartman to review their concerns. Dr. Barbara Mawn, a tenured full professor, ready to retire so without fear of retribution, laid out the history of the struggles of the SSON to become a school and have a dean. To my knowledge, the faculty received no further response following that meeting. As I understand it, this issue is also on the agenda this summer for union contract negotiations. Two brave teaching faculty have stepped up to represent the SSON because we have so few tenured faculty. It is important to note that many faculty and staff view the decision to fire me as retribution for their meetings with the Provost and the union. I am curious why
you’ve
chosen time after time to listen to one person, Dean McKinney, and not to the 29 people in the SSON nor SSON alumni, advisory board members or community partners. It appears to me that no one has explored the concerns of the SSON with an open mind and with the recognition that these men and women are highly intelligent and have legitimate concerns.
I’ve
been told that Dean McKinney has a long history of micromanaging and controlling the SSON and that she fought the creation of the school and establishment of the dean and vice dean roles. In any case, the titles of college vice dean and SSON dean are meaningless, in reality. The SSON dean is merely a figure head. The title of
vice dean
is laughable. Dean McKinney told me on several occasions that the title was created so she could delegate authority to the SSON dean to make personnel, hiring, budget and other decisions within the School of Nursing. However, there
is no
authority. The SSON dean is neither fish nor fowl, having not the direct ear of the Provost (as do department Chairs) nor the Chancellor and without membership in the Dean
’s Council.
In making the decision to fire me, I wonder if you have given any thought to the SSON accomplishments of the past 10 months. Here are a few:
Created the 11 policies and Systematic Evaluation Plan required by the Board of Registered Nursing. Without these, we would be vulnerable to violations of Board regulations.
Updated the CCNE (our accreditation) Master Evaluation Plan.
Established new connections with donors and alumni via an electronic newsletter and a nursing alumni webinar.
Established an SSON emergency fund to assist students.
Partnered with an adjunct faculty interested in recruiting students of diverse backgrounds to the SSON, using the Bring Diversity to Nursing endowment fund to support this new role.
Created new and strengthened relationships with clinical and community partners.
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Strengthened relationships with the UMASS nursing deans and the Massachusetts Association of College (MACN) Deans of which I am to be president-elect. I will now need to withdraw from that position.
Facilitated the resurrection of the psychiatric mental health NP program options and post masters certificate at a time when this role is desperately needed.
Facilitated the work of our program directors to acquire approval of three new PhD program options and a new BS to DNP option.
Restructured our organizational structure, including new bylaws, updated our mission and vision and revamped certain roles to increase efficiency; revised our strategic plan for 2020-2023.
Recruited and hired three exceptional faculty. Quoting Dean McKinney, the list of potential candidates was
“
unprecedented.
”
This was not coincidental or accidental. While the high quality of the SSON was the primary driver of this, our efforts to bring the SSON out from under the umbrella of the College via changes in our web site, for example, also made a difference. In addition, several of these exceptional candidates followed me from my previous position.
Hired our first Donna Manning Endowed Chair for Nursing. Of note, this person may now choose not to come because I will not be dean. She made her concerns clear when she accepted the position.
The SSON has exceptional NCLEX and certification board pass rates and its master
’
s program is listed as #79 in the country per
US News and World Report
. While I cannot take any credit for this, it is unusual to fire a dean when things are going so well. Along with the efforts of our faculty and staff, I have increased the visibility of the SSON. In addition to my election as president elect of the MACN board, I sit on the nursing council for Lawrence General Hospital. I am an associate editor of a major journal and sat on the CCNE Nomination Committee, the New England Organization of Nurse Leaders Nomination Committee and the American Academy of Nursing Fellow Selection Committee this year. Sadly, I will need to remove myself from these roles. I have only been in the SSON a short time. I do not take credit for its accomplishments. That is all due to our faculty, staff and Interim Dean Mellilo. However, during my short tenure, the SSON has not faltered and has, in fact, been strengthened. As you know, this spring was particularly challenging but we came through it very smoothly due to our exceptional faculty and staff. It is important to remember that nurses, particularly those with graduate degrees, are in high demand in clinical and academic settings. They can earn much more money in clinical settings and w
on’t
have the concern that Dean McKinney will veto the recommendations of their nursing colleagues if they decide to pursue promotion and tenure. If you value the SSON, I suggest you make a commitment to listen to and act on faculty and staff concerns, fundamentally alter the structure whereby the College Dean has veto power over everything and acknowledge that you risk losing a school that has the potential to be among the top ten in the country. Sincerely yours, Leslie Neal-Boylan (cc: UMASS President Marty Meehan, Senate representative Heidi Fantasia, SSON faculty and staff)
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