Dive Brief:

• The leader of the Our Lady of Holy Cross College’s nursing department has been reinstated following a messy departure that led seven faculty to resign in protest.
• Patricia Prechter’s reappointment came after several meetings with the New Orleans institution’s board of regents.
• Prechter had served as both provost and head of the nursing department. When she attempted to resign the provost position to focus on the nursing program, the college’s president said she couldn’t make that choice, considering it her resignation from the university all together.

Dive Insight:

It seems that the college president had a snit over Prechter’s decision and then lost the battle of wills due to her popularity. Besides the faculty resignations, the school's Faculty Assembly had unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in the president, Ronald Ambrosetti. Following Prechter’s departure, the college had insisted on characterizing the move as a voluntary resignation. With Prechter returning, the faculty members who resigned will probably rejoin the school, according to one of the protesters quoted by The Times-Picayune. Prechter does not have to serve as provost.