The Board resumed their meeting Thursday morning at 8:30am. In open session they deferred degrees to eight students (three Bachelor's and five Associates) for students who've completed remaining requirements over the summer. Congratulations.
They also began review of the "Teach Out" plan submitted by the Alaska Commission on Post Secondary Education (ACPE), but moved to delay action until after executive session. Three items on the agenda "Treasurers Report", "Alaska Growth Settlement" and "Staffing Patterns for 2007-2008" were held under Executive Session. The delay to the teach out plan was due to the desire to address staffing patterns first. The teach out plan refers to a "President" and "Chief Academic Officer" and the Board wasn't positive that they'd keep those positions/titles into the upcoming year. I wonder what that means...
During the Treasurer's Report, there was supposed to be a proposal regarding payout of severance and annual leave. I'll check in soon and find out what happened.
At 10:00AM there was to a be a presentation by Keith Cox and Marisa Chelius about the Sitka Sound Science Center, an arrangement that would include NOAA and involves the Sage / Hatchery facility. I missed this part of the meeting, but will check in with Keith and update the site soon.
This is all I know so far...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Dear Friends,
The Board of Trustees has taken one of the most EXPANSIVE views of executive session (“ES”) that I’ve ever seen. They’ve used it so much that the only things they do in open session are highly ceremonial. This isn’t ok. I’m wondering how soon we’ll all hear about what happened in ES. (anyone want to place wagers? My guess - never).
While I don’t claim to be an expert on nonprofits, I’ve spent A LOT of time around nonprofits. Most only use ES sparingly and before they make any decisions, they come out of ES, and vote in the open. Transparence is key to nonprofit survival because they exist to serve the public good. Once they’ve lost public trust, which we could argue SJ has, they begin a slow and painful death. It’s time for SJ to go back to and ask itself, honestly, is it serving the public good? If not, then it’s time to sell stuff, dissolve the 501(c)(3) status, finish firing everyone, cut your loses, and go home.
While SJ isn’t a local government body, they should model their ES within the State’s guidelines for local government meetings. Information on State guidelines can be seen at http://www.dced.state.ak.us/dca/LOGON/offc/offc-exec.htm
Second, as secretary to the board, Jim Powell of Anchorage should publish all copies of board minutes from 2005 to date, even in draft form. This should include the “secret” ES called so frequently in the months leading up to the meltdown.
Next, board members should vote against EVERY ES request until a revised procedure for ES has been developed, commented on (by the public), and passed by the board – in open session! The bylaws, which were under revision recently, should be published as a way of the board asking the public to hold SJ accountable for following their own rules.
Sadly, in conclusion, while daily my faith in the ability of many involved in this fiasco quickly diminishes, I know there are some good folks on the board, and some who’ve left the board, who care about process, as well as outcome. These members need to take a stand. When they do it, I know they’ll have former staff, students, and alum who’ll stand with them.
The Board of Trustees at Sheldon Jackson College, voted yesterday to terminate employees...reducing staff to a total of 6. The childcare center,& Hames PE Center will be advertised to the public as available to lease, without any takers, the doors will shut in early October. All the people who have almost bleed in pain the last few months, struggling to help, will be turned aside, just as before, without so much as a thank you for work performed from the board. The President & CFO will be left to deal the blow to the remaining staff, while the board travels home, relieved of executing the death toll. For those scorned, cutting his or her loses, and moving on is probably the best action, but doesn't alleviate the pain and injustice of it all. The power of a scorned, and informed person is something to contend with.
Those of us owed financially, educationally,emotionally or otherwise must seek redress.When the financial bankruptcy follows this moral bankruptcy we will be left at the end of a very long line...
time for a legal coup...
That reminds me. While I am not a lawyer, nor will I ever be! A little birdie mentioned that students who are considering suing SJ should first file a claim with the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE), so that you have “exhausted all administrative” remedies. Don’t worry if it’s denied, start the paper record, SOON!
a voice of reason! thansk for the info. you should workin DC!! A LEGAL MIND! Any body reccomend a good barrister?
time for the lies to end ...
While I don't work in DC, it won’t be a bad place to work. Like you and many others, I agree, the lies need to stop. People’s lives hang in the balance, and once folks have forgotten that then they have no business leading. Dr. Cornell West says, “You can’t lead them if you don’t love them, and you can’t save them if you are not willing to serve them.” The actions of those involved at the top of SJ are neither service nor leadership. It’s CYA time for many of them. But the worse part is there are still folks that think SJ is coming back, and that’s the worse part.
The Bible is clear, what's done in the dark (secret meetings, deal cutting, and shell games) shall be bought to light, and the sun is coming up on SJ. The only question left is, will those involved run from the light like roaches or will they all allow it to shine on them and begin telling the truth, even when the truth might hurt a little. Not part of the truth, not their version of the truth, but THE TRUTH!
If the truth would have been told, folks could have planned, saved, and move on, on their own terms.
This is Higher Education Enron. Where was the fidelity? And why hasn’t anyone been publicly held accountable?
Post a Comment