BREAKING NEWS – Faculty Senate meets Dec. 2; records detail early Sternberg advocacy

By Gaille Pike

Special to the Hays Daily News

Fort Hays State University’s Faculty Senate will meet Dec. 2 at 3:30 p.m. in Albertson Hall 169, with the meeting open to the public. Newly supplied records show how faculty and staff governance groups acted early in the Sternberg closure controversy to put employee protections, meaningful consultation and collections stewardship on record.

The October joint statement supported continuing dialogue, not simply a one-time response, Senate President Christianna Pruden explained. Her account of President Tisa Mason’s subsequent meetings with governance leaders, alongside minutes documenting the provost’s planning assignment and a postponed opposition resolution, adds context to unresolved funding, expert-assistance and collections questions. Whether Sternberg will be discussed Dec. 2 remains undetermined.

Who the Senate represents—and what it can do

The Faculty Senate represents faculty in shared governance, with senators elected by their academic departments or other represented units under Senate bylaws, Pruden explained Nov. 11. The supplied 2026-2027 roster lists 47 senators; leadership consists of Pruden, president; Jessica Heronemus, vice president; and Scott Gregory, secretary.

The Senate can study issues, gather perspectives, adopt statements and forward recommendations—but cannot determine museum operations, staffing or funding.

“However, the Senate does not exercise administrative or executive authority, and its recommendations are not binding on the President or other University administrators,” Pruden wrote.

Pruden attends Kansas Board of Regents meetings and participates in the Council of Faculty Senate Presidents. She does not vote or speak for KBOR and said she has had no Sternberg communications or meetings in those capacities.

Early action, different approval status

University Affairs approved “A Resolution Supporting Sternberg Museum and University Budget Transparency” Sept. 30, shortly after Mason announced the planned Dec. 18 closure.

The proposal opposed closure, criticized insufficient shared-governance input, raised planning and asset-disposition concerns, and sought budget discussions with Mason and finance administrator Wesley Wintch.

The full Senate postponed it Oct. 7 without an explanation recorded in the minutes, while approving a separate support letter. That joint statement bears Oct. 8 signatures representing the full Faculty Senate, Staff Senate Executive Committee and FHSU American Association of University Professors Executive Committee—not the latter organizations’ full memberships.

Pruden said the opposition proposal remains with University Affairs: “The committee may return the proposal to the full Senate with a recommendation, but no final Senate action has been taken.”

Joint statement sets continuing priorities

The statement acknowledged financial pressures but emphasized Sternberg’s teaching, research, outreach and collections responsibilities beyond attendance and revenue. It sought timely employment information, reassignment or retraining alternatives before position elimination, and substantive employee participation in academic and collections decisions.

“Those most familiar with Sternberg’s collections, obligations, programs, and partnerships must have a substantive role in determining what comes next,” it said.

Collections work should have realistic expectations backed by adequate staffing, resources and time, with employment rights and due-process protections upheld during uncertainty.

The groups also urged coordinated legislative advocacy, community outreach and Foundation fundraising so donors receive consistent information about funds’ purpose and use. They committed to continuing to listen to employees, seek information and advocate fair procedures protecting colleagues and their academic and public missions.

Pruden said the statement does not speak for the administration or KBOR.

What Mason told governance leaders

“President Mason reviewed the letter,” Pruden wrote. “Following its submission, she met with the executive groups of the Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, and FHSU-AAUP to discuss the priorities and recommendations identified in the letter.”

Mason supplied timeline information, clarified the administration’s process and answered questions, Pruden said.

“Those discussions provided an opportunity for the groups to communicate directly with President Mason and for the administration to respond to the matters identified in the letter,” she wrote.

“President Mason also explained that several of the letter’s priorities had been recognized or were part of the administration’s ongoing work,” including employee communication, expert consultation, collections care and Sternberg’s academic role.

Pruden did not date the meetings or identify outcomes resolving the assistance, funding and collections questions documented in subsequent reporting. Their timing relative to the Oct. 26 closure reversal remains unclear.

Provost’s report and expert offers

Provost Jill Arensdorf’s October report described Mason’s charge to work with Sternberg employees and Dean Mark Arant “starting this week”: inventory collections and live animals, determine teaching and research needs, then propose a collective sustainable vision to Mason. It also referenced fundraising, external partners and paused consultant conversations, with no contract signed.

That is consistent with Mason’s subsequent description of staff-led revisioning, but later reporting raises questions about supporting resources and expertise.

Staff reported offers from University of Kansas and Kansas State University botany experts and unanswered requests for student assistance assessing cataloging backlogs. The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology offered scientific, legal and technical help Oct. 9; its Oct. 29 statement reported no further response after acknowledgment.

Adviser questions and donor confidence

FHSU confirmed officials consulted Salomon Aaron in conversations Grospitch believed occurred in early June and early September, before staff notification. Grospitch described guidance about the museum market and ethical deaccessioning; Mason described a museum-transactions expert. FHSU denied signing a contract or authorizing a sale.

SVP President Stuart Sumida rejected characterizing the London gallery director as a paleontological consultant, emphasizing his commercial fossil interests while offering scientific and museum expertise.

Paused discussions do not establish that FHSU accepted that assistance or permanently excluded specimen sales, as curator Kenshu Shimada subsequently requested.

Mason rescinded closure Oct. 26 after fundraising surpassed the initial target, leaving a long-term plan unfinished. On Nov. 4, Anthony Maltese said Triebold Paleontology had been days from donating a western Kansas fish fossil before uncertainty prompted consideration of another institution.

Maltese linked the loss to Mason’s choices; Barrick described rebuilding preservation and research-access confidence, while Shimada and Sumida connected donor concerns to missing assurances and long-term stability.

Public information and December agenda

Guests may attend Senate meetings but ordinarily cannot speak or participate unless invited. Pruden said December agenda decisions would be finalized approximately one week beforehand.

The public webpage is being updated alongside FHSU’s Engage intranet. “As that work continues, there may be differences in what is available in each location,” Pruden wrote.

She supplied approved October minutes and said November minutes would follow approval, without specifying when the December agenda would be publicly posted. Readers seeking meeting or document information can contact leadership:

• Pruden: [email protected].
• Heronemus: [email protected].
• Gregory: [email protected].

The Senate put its priorities on record early. The remaining question is whether that dialogue will produce lasting commitments to employees, scientific expertise and collections stewardship—the assurances needed to secure Sternberg’s future and rebuild donor confidence.