An overwhelming majority of assembled Parsons School of Design faculty and staff voted to pass a resolution of no confidence in the leadership of Parsons’ Executive Dean Rachel Schreiber at an unusually large and tense gathering on Oct. 20.
During the meeting, 117 voted “no confidence,” 7 voted “confidence” and 11 abstained.
The vote came one day after Parsons faculty and staff were notified of the departure of Parsons’ dean of academic planning, Nadine Bourgeois, effective Oct. 18.
In a three-sentence email to Parsons staff and full-time faculty sent on Oct. 19, Schreiber announced that Bourgeois, a New School employee for 35 years, had “resigned” from her position. The dean of academic planning at Parsons oversees one of the largest administrative portfolios at the University, including supervising academic planning, full-time and part-time faculty affairs, the Parsons Making Center, human resources and staffing, facilities, capital planning, operations and budget.
Bourgeois was first hired at the University in 1986.
“We owe Nadine an enormous debt of gratitude for her significant contributions over the course of 35 years at Parsons,” Shrieber wrote in the Oct. 19 email.
President Dwight McBride, still only 19 months in office, and Schreiber, who took over as executive dean at Parsons in 2019 from a long-serving and popular predecessor, Professor Joel Towers, now face a mounting challenge from faculty and staff. No New School administrator has faced a no confidence vote since late 2008, when then-President Bob Kerrey suffered a no confidence vote from the University faculty. The conflict at Parsons comes only two weeks after McBride’s formal ceremony of investiture.
Some faculty and staff feel that Schreiber forced Bourgeois’s resignation, adding that Schreiber lacked transparency and failed to consult faculty and staff in the process.
Parsons faculty and staff councils are at present drafting a letter to the University administration to explain the reasons behind their decision to pass the extraordinary vote of no confidence. The draft letter, which Parsons staff and faculty are now circulating for ratification by vote, states that “the peremptory removal of Nadine Bourgeois from her long-standing role as Dean of Academic Planning on October 18th, 2021, offers one extreme example of Executive Dean Schreiber resorting to poorly-informed, top-down leadership, these actions go far beyond any single precipitating event.”
Speaking for the university, Amy Malsin, assistant vice president for communications and public affairs, stated that the New School leadership supports Schreiber in an email to The New School Free Press.
“The Parsons Board of Governors and university leadership support the Executive Dean but are committed to listening to the community and working with them to chart a positive path forward together for Parsons,” Malsin stated.
The university is aware of the vote, but did not provide further details on the nature of Bourgeois’s departure.
“The leadership teams of Parsons and The New School are aware of the concerns and speculation that this transition has generated,” Malsin said. “The New School’s leadership is aware that this situation has led to a vote of no confidence in the Executive Dean of Parsons, drafted by members of the Parsons faculty and staff, but a formal statement has not yet been submitted.”
The Free Press has asked for comment from McBride, Provost Renee White and Dean Schreiber. As of press time, none of the administration officials were available for comment.