EDITORIAL: Board of trustees needs to remember its role
“The trustees ... clarify the institution's mission, approve long-range plans, assess the educational program, ensure financial solvency, preserve institutional independence, maintain the relationship between the university and the public it serves and protect and preserve the assets of the institution.”
We hope the board of trustees keeps this message, pulled directly from its official Web page, in mind on Thursday when it meets to decide the actions and direction of Central Michigan University.
This consistency would be a change of pace from the previous trustees meeting and this semester, as the board has taken a completely hands-off approach to the Faculty Association contract conflict, which has colored almost all the academic year so far and stained the university’s image nationwide.
While the board should by no means be bogged down by all the day-to-day operations of the university, the simple fact is that shunting off the FA problem to be solely the responsibility of the two bargaining teams is not protecting and preserving the assets of the institution.
Inaction on the part of the board shows either neglect of their duties or what amounts to tacit approval of the universities handling of the issue. While it would be excessive to suggest the board should step in to resolve the issue, at the very least students and alumni deserve a public stance.
An example of this inaction is Chairwoman Sarah Opperman's decision to not publicly comment on the FA talks, forwarding all comments to Steve Smith, director of public relations.
Trustees should care for the FA contract as much as they care about approving projects that reach into the tens of millions.
A lack of reaction by trustees makes one question if they truly do care about the future of CMU, or rather care about spending the copious amounts of money they ask students to send to the university each year.
The university’s greatest assets are its students, faculty and reputation. The board has done absolutely nothing to preserve these.
Instead, it has allowed the situation to fester and eventually explode over months of negotiation into a strike by faculty members. The atmosphere of mistrust that has resulted in the war of words between the two parties has led to a deeply divided campus leaving students lost somewhere in the middle.
The trustees, who hold the highest authority at CMU, must be accountable for the actions of those that they are here to serve, and must be firm in directing CMU toward a brighter future.
