POCATELLO — Nearly 70 percent of the faculty members who participated in an advisory vote on Idaho State University Provost Gary Olson have no confidence in him, according to vote results released by the ISU Faculty Senate Friday evening.

    Of the 431 faculty members who cast ballots this week, 295 expressed no confidence in Olson. Ninety-five faculty members have confidence in the provost while 41 voted to abstain.

    The vote saw a 65.7 percent turnout. A total of 656 faculty members were eligible to participate in what was the second facultywide vote at ISU in the past month.

    This week’s vote has no binding effect and any consequences for Olson are up to ISU President Arthur Vailas. The president could not be reached for comment Friday evening, but Kent Tingey, ISU’s vice president of advancement, spoke on the administration’s behalf, saying the president will dedicate a great deal of thought regarding the vote’s outcome.

    “When the president returns on Monday, I’m certain that he’ll review the results of the advisory vote,” Tingey said. “His plan is to meet with various university constituents and stakeholders such as the chair of the Faculty Senate and the Faculty Senate as a whole.”

    Tingey said the other parties that Vailas will meet with include the State Board of Education, the ISU Foundation and the university’s alumni board.

    “He’ll listen to the input and the thoughts of each of these groups and get their thoughts and insights,” Tingey said. “After meeting with each of these groups, he’ll comment on the situation as he sees it.”

    High-ranking faculty members, including the chair and vice chair of the Faculty Senate, declined to comment for this story.

    Mark Browning, a spokesman for the State Board of Education, declined to comment on the vote’s result, saying the initiative is an ISU matter.

    “It’s non-binding in terms of what course Vailas will or will not take,” Browning said. “Olson is an employee of ISU, and we’re not going to micromanage (Vailas’) employees. Our role has been to simply ensure that the proper process was followed (when the Faculty Senate scheduled the vote).”

    Olson could not be reached for comment Friday.

    James DiSanza, a communication and rhetorical studies professor at ISU, said the vote’s results show “clear” dissatisfaction with Olson that should not be blamed on the university’s budget problems or the recession.

    “I think the vote was pretty clear,” DiSanza said. “I think the result reflects real concerns on the part of the faculty. I hope that the administration would take it as a cue that we need to start over.”

    Tensions toward Olson increased earlier this year when he unveiled a campuswide reorganization plan that is estimated to save ISU between $1 million and $1.5 million. Based on its most recent draft, the reorganization would consolidate four existing ISU colleges — the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering, the College of Pharmacy and the Kasiska College of Health Professions.

    Many faculty members fear the reorganization would create excessive administrative oversight, while others doubt the plan’s anticipated cost-savings.

    The vote on Olson was scheduled when ISU’s Faculty Senate received petitions last month demanding that a no-confidence vote be held. According to its policies, the Faculty Senate has to grant petition demands that receive signatures from at least 20 percent of faculty. The petitions demanding a no-confidence vote on Olson received signatures from approximately 22.6 percent of ISU faculty.

    While many faculty members have taken issue with the reorganization, others who voted against Olson argue that the provost has failed to relay faculty concerns to Vailas. As provost, Olson is the top academic official at ISU.

    Faculty who support Olson have argued that the vote was premature and unfair, and that professors should give him more time to adjust to the job. Olson, who came from Illinois State University, has been at ISU for about a year.

    This is the second facultywide vote to be held at ISU in the past month. In March, 278 of 379 participating faculty voted against the campuswide reorganization plan that Olson presented. Seventy-five faculty members voted in favor of the reorganization, while 26 abstained.