Their positions have been made clear.

In a vote tallied last Monday, the union representing the faculty at CCRI overwhelmingly approved a no confidence vote in college President Meghan Hughes. Then, days later, the Council on Postsecondary Education unanimously backed Hughes.

What happens next is unclear. CCRI Faculty Association President Steven Murray did not return calls after a union meeting Wednesday evening. On Friday, a spokeswoman for the council said there are no new developments.

But while the future is uncertain, there’s no ambiguity as to what triggered this flare-up in differences of opinions between the faculty and the administration. At issue is the administration’s plan to implement a three-week winter term starting in January.

In a telephone interview early last week, Murray said department directors had not been consulted on the courses to be offered, adding, “They’re bad courses offered in this format.” He said Vice President of Academic Affairs Rosemary Costigan is selecting people to teach courses without consulting department chairs.

Murray said in an effort to “deflect” attention from the issues raised by the faculty, President Hughes is looking to blame the unrest on the failure of the parties to reach a contract and faculty resistance to change.

“This is very harmful, detrimental change and she knows it,” Murray said.

In a statement issued following the vote, Hughes said she is committed to advancing the progress made by CCRI and that working with Costigan and faculty and staff the college is “piloting new approaches based on nationally-tested best practices.”

“We are seeing results – last spring the college achieved its highest graduation rate in nearly twenty years, and we awarded the highest number of degrees and certificates in twenty years. Even with these accomplishments, I understand that our work has brought change. Change, coupled with open contract negotiations, can be hard, and I believe that this vote reflects our ongoing effort to define who we are as a college and who we want to become,” she says in a statement.

According to the office of Postsecondary Education, the contract with the CCRI Faculty Association expired in June, but the sides continue to talk and they have not reached an impasse. In a statement issued after the no confidence vote, Tim DelGiudice, chair of the Postsecondary Education Council, said, “The council has been working collaboratively with the CCRI Faculty Association throughout the contract negotiation process, and we are hopeful that an agreement can be settled as soon as possible, as we have recently done with CCRI part-time faculty, Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island.”

DelGiudice cited achievements under Hughes’ leadership, listing the highest three-year graduation rate in nearly 20 years; a 10 percent increase in college credentials; securing the two largest philanthropic gifts in the college’s history and the highest nursing exam pass rate in the state.

“We unequivocally support President Hughes, recognizing the transformative impact of the reforms she has put in place since becoming CCRI president in 2016. We are confident that she and her team will continue to build on that success,” he said.

Murray said the parties are still negotiating. He added that the union has filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the state Board of Labor Relations for “surface bargaining and bad faith bargaining.”

In part, the no confidence motion calls for the removal of Hughes, Costigan and Dean Thomas Sabbagh for failing their leadership roles to the detriment of students.