Jason Wingard resigns as Temple University’s president, effective Friday

Jason Wingard will step down Friday as president of Temple University.

Temple confirmed his resignation in a message posted to its website, thanking him for his nearly two years of service to the university.

“We are confident that the University will benefit from the strategies and initiatives launched by Dr. Wingard, in the years to come,” said Mitchell Morgan, the chair of Temple’s Board of Trustees. “We thank him for his leadership and dedication to the Temple community.”

The announcement follows a turbulent couple of months for Temple, following a 42-day strike of graduate student workers and a fatal shooting of a university police officer.  It also comes more than a week after union faculty members moved to hold a vote of no confidence against Wingard, Morgan, and University Provost Gregory Mandel.

“Given the urgent matters now facing the University, particularly campus safety, the Board and the administration will ensure the highest level of focus on these serious issues. We understand that a concerted and sustained effort must be undertaken as we attempt to solve these problems,” Morgan said.

Leaders with the Temple Association of University Professionals, the faculty union, told WHYY News the vote of no confidence was prompted following concerns over falling enrollment, financial issues, and labor disputes.

Wingard addressed those concerns in a message posted Friday, vowing staff and faculty would hear from university leaders “more regularly and frequently.”

The resignation comes less than two years into Wingard’s five-year contract. The university did not answer questions about whether it would pay out his remaining contract or if some other settlement was reached.