To the Board…
April 17, 2009
CODFA VICE PRESIDENT HIGGINS ADDESSES BOT: NEED FOR OPEN COMMUNICATION AMONG ALL CONSTITUENCIES
Lisa Higgins, Vice President of the College of DuPage Faculty Association and Associate Professor of English, made the following comments to the Board of Trustees at its meeting April 16, 2009:
On behalf of the Faculty Association, I'm requesting that item 10. B. 5 to approve the remaining 10 proposed policies be withdrawn.
These 10 proposed policies are highly controversial. At the last Board meeting, these policies were objected to by the Illinois American Association of University Professors (AAUP), and the Illinois Community College Faculty Association. In addition, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has sent the Board letters questioning the constitutionality of these policies. At the March 19 Board meeting, these 10 policies were pulled for legal review.
Since then, the COD Faculty Association and the Illinois AAUP received one invitation to meet with President Breuder, his cabinet, and the Board's lawyer. But it turned out to be more gamesmanship than a good faith effort to meet. When the Faculty Association responded that we needed to find a time when our attorney could be present, and the AAUP responded that they could not make a meeting at that exact time, no effort was made to reschedule or find a new time.
COD is a public college. It is supported by the community, and in turn provides support to that community through its programs, services and cultural opportunities.
In order to make the best decision and to earn the public trust, the Board should operate in an open and transparent manner.
Public institutions like this one are partly accredited based on their adherence to principles of shared governance. Shared governance is to provide a checks and balances structure that can help the public's interests by allowing for discussion, debate and transparent decision making.
Yet, on the day of a Board meeting, agenda information is being kept under wraps.
This morning I asked President Breuder for information on two agenda items: 7.) President's Contract, and 10. B. 7) Approval of Indemnification Agreement. I was not given a clear answer about either item. Instead, I was told that these items were for the Board to discuss. And although I was not given a clear answer as to what these two items were about, President Breuder stated that the Board would be voting on both of them tonight.
Earlier today, I requested that public comments be moved to before the President's contract. That request was obviously denied.
A Board that is confident that it is doing the right thing for the community would freely share information and welcome public scrutiny and input.
When top college officials refuse to give information about agenda items on the morning that they are to be voted on, it goes against the spirit of the open meetings law and effectively cuts the public out of the process.
