The saga surrounding the demise or the alleged demise of the College of Continuing Education might not be easily solved, but the least that could be done is some simple communication not involving memos.

Faculty Senate member Sherman Stanage has been making public accusations about Provost Kendall Baker for the past two weeks. The accusations are so serious that Stanage is calling for a vote of “no confidence” against Baker.

Baker, however, thinks Stanage’s problems with changing the name of the college and requiring the instructors to attend counseling have been cleared up.

Stanage insists Baker has dug a hole too deep for him to climb out of and no explanations will suffice.

The circumstances with Continuing Education are detailed and seem to revolve in circles. Its the type of situation where no matter what happens now, someone is going to walk away angry.

But the least that could be done is for the faculty and the administration to get together and try to work out the problems in some way. Right now, too many faculty members are still unclear about what is actually happening and should be given the courtesy to be spoken to in person.

Baker must respond to Stanage’s accusations in a way that does not involve simply passing memos and documents. He should give the faculty a chance to question him in an open forum.