Yudichak proposal

[hotmetal]

instead of increasing Harrisburg's influence over BOT by playing around with appointments, the legislature should limit the boards authority to decisions regarding nuts and bolts issues. No more authority to sign consent decrees, etc

 

[kgilbert78]

instead of increasing Harrisburg's influence over BOT by playing around with appointments, the legislature should limit the boards authority to decisions regarding nuts and bolts issues. No more authority to sign consent decrees, etc

But *someone* has to have that level of authority? If not a board, then who? The Gov? The President of the University? That kind of contract--much as we hate the way in which it came about--is part of the nuts and bolts of running a university.

 

[pmjoe]

I'm pretty sure the Consent Decree was signed by the university President, not the board.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again here. Personally, I don't believe the biggest issue is the structure of the board. The biggest issue is specific people on the board.

The execs and their allies have the votes to do whatever they want. So, unless you expect the state to step in and change the board to be a majority of alumni trustees - which will never happen - all this speak about restructuring the board is mere posturing, pandering and politics.

The real issue on the board is that a handful of trustees make major, secret decisions without even consulting the board. It's dangerous and defeats the purpose of having a board with a diverse background to provide input. And why? They have the votes to get what they want anyhow. Those secretive, destructive board members need to be removed and even if they are replaced with ones with the same voting positions, they instead need to be people who work with the board, not against it.

 

[BlueBand]

I'm pretty sure the Consent Decree was signed by the university President, not the board.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again here. Personally, I don't believe the biggest issue is the structure of the board. The biggest issue is specific people on the board.

The execs and their allies have the votes to do whatever they want. So, unless you expect the state to step in and change the board to be a majority of alumni trustees - which will never happen - all this speak about restructuring the board is mere posturing, pandering and politics.

The real issue on the board is that a handful of trustees make major, secret decisions without even consulting the board. It's dangerous and defeats the purpose of having a board with a diverse background to provide input. And why? They have the votes to get what they want anyhow. Those secretive, destructive board members need to be removed and even if they are replaced with ones with the same voting positions, they instead need to be people who work with the board, not against it.

But you will not get that without changing the structure of the board. How do you propose we get rid of the problem trustees? Unless or until there is evidence of malfeasance, they're not going anywhere unless they want to. And when they do, they get replaced with cronies doing the same shit. It's a self perpetuating system, and we happily went along with it for years because all we saw were "Penn Staters" devoted to their university. Just like our athletic department was very inbred, so was most of the trustees. It took the Sandusky mess to open a lot of eyes.

The only possible inroads I see under the current situation is if the Governor were to demand resignations of his holdover appointees, and appoint new people with an agenda aligned with the alumni trustees. However, since that hadn't happened yet, I suspect Wolfe isn't going down that road.

 

[bmusser24]

I'm not sure why Harrisburg isn't withholding funding to P$U since our esteemed Board of (dis)Trustees flew directly in the face of Sen. Yudichack's desire to make the board a bit smaller.