OF ALL the catch phrases and jargon heard around Grounds, none is so pervasive as our sacred "community of trust." Since your first tour of the University, it's likely that some administrator has spoken of it as many times as casserole surprise has been doled out at Newcomb Hall. And for the most part, it works. Or maybe it does, if we just keep telling ourselves that it is alive and well. But is it?
Don't worry - this isn't going to be another column about the honor system. But think back to the referenda vote held just before Spring Break. Remember the questions surrounding the level of involvement by the Board of Visitors? Remember trying to understand just what exactly the Board should and should not be doing?
About a month ago, the Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial about a national organization called the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges ("Trust the Trustees," Feb. 26). The piece was about a statement this group issued establishing a set of guidelines that the Boards of schools should follow. More than just talking about the statement, the editorial was a call to action for trustees (in our case, Board members) to actually take their responsibilities more seriously and not just "rubber-stamp" everything put in front of them by administrators.
This has everything to do with our revered community of trust. As Secretary to the Board Alexander Gilliam explained in a personal interview, the Board exists to be the "ultimate authority" for the University, bearing the responsibility to protect and "oversee" the main operations of the school in the best interests of the University. In fact, Mr. Gilliam was quick to note that Mr. Jefferson, the first rector of the Board, specifically chose the word "visitor" to properly describe the job. Other schools use the word "trustee" in order to denote the trust placed in the hands of these people.
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These days it seems as though such a difference in terminology suits the Board all too well. As the Board pushes aside many student needs and concerns to focus on administrative agendas, our community may be too trusting of this little Rotunda club.
How many Government and Foreign Affairs majors will have to be shut out of class before the Board will do something? How long must our main and most treasured academic buildings sit in disrepair before the Board decides they are worthy of renovation funds? How many widely respected and accomplished professors have to be forced to leave because of poor departmental funding and misguided administrative goals before the Board performs its oversight duties? How often must a bill designed to limit the percentage of out-of-state students be introduced in the Virginia House of Delegates before the Board firmly decides to rectify this situation?
These are just a few of the questions currently on students' minds. There seem to be few answers, though. According to minutes from this school year's Board meetings, none of these pressing issues have been addressed. Apparently, talking about the honor system and protecting it from lawsuits is the only thing concerning students that members of the Board understand.
But the simple fact remains that their duties and responsibilities extend far beyond one aspect of student life. And while the Board is aptly wary of "micromanagement," issues concerning course and classroom availability, professors and the student population are among the most large-scale concerns imaginable.
To be clear, Mr. Gilliam described "micromanaging" as dealing with matters as trivial as setting the amount of parking fines. On the contrary, the problems previously mentioned are broad, far-reaching and their consequences will deeply affect the University in the future.
Perhaps the Board chooses to term important tasks of such oversight as "micromanagement" for their own convenience. Unfortunately, the two are not synonymous.
The Board is charged with protecting the interests of the University by setting broad policy guidelines and priorities. Therefore, Board members must be accountable for their job instead of perpetually standing idle as the administration runs unchecked or merely "rubber-stamped."
The Board has full discretion to choose which issues it will address. For this reason, its priorities are fairly evident from the agenda it sets. Board members will soon descend on Grounds April 5-7 for their third and last meeting during this school year.
There are many issues that legitimately deserve a place on the Board's agenda. The welfare of this institution demands it, or the Board's accountability will be called further into question.
(Katherine Martini's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at kmartini@cavalierdaily.com.)
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