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A lesson on the importance of trustee authority
What happens when trustees relinquish the basic responsibilities of trusteeship? Sometimes the attorney general comes calling.
In January 2007, the Connecticut State University System's Board of Trustees voted to delegate important decision-making authority about personnel to its Executive Committee. More than two years later, the Executive Committee amended the system's HR policies. It gave the chancellor of CSUS authority to "non-continue" any university president without cause, if he had the consent of the Chairman of the Board and reported back to the Executive Committee. Chancellor David Carter used his new powers in November 2009 to tell Southern Connecticut State University President Cheryl Norton that she would be "non-continued" shortly. On December 9, one day before the full board could have discussed and reversed the decision, Norton agreed to resign in a highly secretive separation agreement. In the succeeding months, details trickled out and criticisms grew. Two trustees called for the board to revisit its delegation and to practice greater transparency.
Now, the Hartford Courant reports that state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has found the CSUS Board of Trustees to be in violation of state law. The law says that the authority to hire and fire presidents is vested solely in the full Board of Trustees, not the Executive Committee. Although Norton's departure is not affected by this opinion since she resigned, the board voted on September 23, 2010 to reclaim its authority in these matters. It has also established an ad-hoc committee to revise the controversial HR policy.
This should be a cautionary tale for every governing board to be vigilant about the authority vested in them, something that we raised a number of times before. Trustees need to ensure that their committees report back to them on matters of importance. Furthermore, they need to pay close attention to potential encroachments on their lawful power by the "executive branch" of the systems they supervise. Boards are not simply rubber-stamping bodies. Their full authority and sovereignty must be upheld -- first and foremost by themselves.
Posted by Tom Bako on October 14, 2010 at October 14, 2010 04:49 PM
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