NAD President Bobbie Beth Scoggins' recent demand that the Gally BoT take over operations from the Administration only increases pressure on this body. The BoT is passing the buck, saying the Administration has the responsibility of keeping order on campus. BBS's argument is that there is no order on campus right now. It is strange that the BoT has not shown any concrete action to date.
This raises the question of the BoT's role and composition. GUAA president Andy Lange stated in an open letter last week that the BoT needs to be comprised of a majority of Gallaudet alumni. Currently, only a small percentage of the Board can say that they attended Gallaudet. Consequently, they do not understand the issues that students, faculty, and staff face on a day-to-day basis. They meet only 4 times a year and get filtered information. It is the rare Board member that walks around on campus, socializing with the people who live, eat, and breathe on campus every day.
It has come to light that some deaf Board members sat out of the presidential selection process due to "conflicts of interest." My question is...who and what determines conflict of interest? Does the mere fact that I've heard a candidate's name before preclude me from voting on that person? Or do I have to be a sibling of that candidate before I cannot vote?
The Deaf world is too small for this "sitting out" to happen. There will always be ties between certain Board members and certain candidates. I would think that the Board members would be professional enough to keep outside ties and opinions out of the process. I would also think that no matter how biased one Board member may be in favor or against a candidate, the other 17 Board members would have strong enough minds of their own to judge the candidate's merits on their own.
But, much like a well-known Deaf modern-day philosopher loves to state, I could be wrong.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
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3 comments:
Why do the students have to sacrifice themselves during the first two waves?
Why not the student leaders; Noah Beckman and Ryan Commerson are not present in the waves?
This seems like a fascist leader putting innocent people out on line due to status quo.
I will be more convinced if leaders put themselves in the front line---- true leadership!
It's not the responsibility of a Board of Trustees of any university to be cognizant of every little thing that goes on at the school. That's the job of the President, Provost, and other senior administrators. The BoT advises the president on the bigger issues, not the day to day stuff. Yes, I know the protestors think they are a big deal. But the BoT knows that the presidential search process was conducted properly from start to finish. The people involved did everything by the book. The protestors are complaining about the outcome of the selection process. That's all it is. To compare this protest to the Civil Rights movement and the American Revolution is laughable.
I think it's time to revise the make-up of the BOT. After DPN, it was changed to 51% Deaf and 49% hearing. I've been disturbed to learn that some hearing members of the BOT don't even know how to sign, and worse still, I've learned that some BOT members are inactive, yet they are still on the BOT. What gives? I'm thinking that if a member of the BOT misses too many meetings, then that person doesn't deserve to be on the BOT.
I think it's time to take a hard look on WHO should be on the BOT...I think it's time for a major change...maybe 90% Deaf and 10% hearing, with the stipulation that all hearing BOT members be required to know how to sign, and to have familiarity with the Deaf community. After all, being a BOT member should be a privilege and a seat on the Board shouldn't be given to just about anybody.
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