{Bluefield, West Virginia}...Bluefield State College's Provost Lewis Jones says a no-confidence vote by faculty is based on false claims. The Faculty Senate voted 32-18 on April 16th on the no-confidence measure. A letter accompanying the vote said Jones threatened to fire faculty without cause, promoted academic policies that directly flouted rules by interim president Tom Blevins and unlawfully upended the school's core academic structure. Provost Jones says the allegations aren't true and he's challenged faculty members to specify instances of coercion. Jones says he doesn't apologize for upholding high standards, and he won't compromise academic integrity and effective teaching for political expediency or personal popularity. Interim college president Tom Blevins has the power to act on the vote, including reprimanding or firing Jones, but he has not commented on the vote. Faculty members say Blevins was politically handcuffed from acting on the vote because both he and Jones were vying for the permanent university president spot, and any action could be perceived as politically motivated.
