Hit the Board of Trustees Where it Hurts- The Pennsylvania Legislature

by tzuker on Jan 17, 2012 2:06 PM EST

I live and work in DC, where every matter is resolved by one of two answers- more government or less government. I guess after twelve years of playing in the professional side of politics I'm hardwired to think that sometimes legislation is the key to fixing our problems. However, after following the tweets, blogs, and transcipts of "President" Erickson's town hall meetings in this case it is.

In all three meetings Rodney was repeatedly asked about the behavior of the Board and how we can change PSU governance. Repeatedly, President Rod said that these would be issues for the Board to discuss since it is up to them. Obviously there was a massive failure on everyone's part in this scandal- from Spanier, to the Board, to PSU's crisis management response, all the way down to the knuckleheads who rioted. But on how to fix it we're essentially left with the same Board that didn't give two sh*ts when Spanier briefed them on Sandusky this past Spring. We can vote, but alumni can only elect three Board members per year out of the 31 that serve. If you're a student you have no vote.

The only people that can change the Board are the people who they are ultimately responsible to- the tax payers of the Commonwealth as embodied by the Pennsylvania Legislature. The current Board arrangement is because the legislature set it up that way. I've started a Change.org petition to have the PA legislature take action on this and I hope you can sign it, email it to friends, and pass it around to alumni, students, and PA taxpayers alike.

http://www.change.org/petitions/change-penn-state-board-of-trustees

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Comments

Spanier was.....

an expert on blowing smoke up th Pa Legislatures’ collective arses….we all see what happened toward the end of his tenure with US States that have no budgets and with the Scandal that rocked PSU, I am sure that the Crew in Harrisburg is not giving a tinker’s damn about the BoT at tPSU…..what say you?

"The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God."

by DerryPharmer on Jan 17, 2012 2:34 PM EST reply actions

If there are enough pissed alums and PA citizens...

they will. Plus, to be completely cynical: no one knows who their state representative or state senator are. If a state senator can get in the local paper, be on the evening news, or get on drive time radio providing a “solution” to a problem of public concern they will jump at it. Here is a way to be against what happened without having to stick up for any side. Its obvious to everyone, whether you love Joe or think PSU football is the devil incarnate, that PSU governance failed. Trying to fix that pleases everyone but the 31 people on the Board.

I’ll bet, if they hear from enough of us, they choose the side of the voters rather than the ineffectual shnook’s who posed as a Board. Plus, correcting a mistake after it’s been exposed is the hallmark of any good politician.

by tzuker on Jan 17, 2012 3:13 PM EST up reply actions

I prefer an alternative.

"Is that a shot at me? 'cause that makes me want to read it all the less."

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by MainLion on Jan 18, 2012 7:26 PM EST reply actions

Bad advice, ineptitude or malice

What made the November mess come into being? I don’t know but suspect a combination of factors affected the BoT. If that had not happened, would so many be calling for heads to roll, throw out everyone, redo the board structure? Isn’t the reaction to clean house just as knee-jerk as firing most all the coaching staff? Did you have a crow to pick w/ the board in Nov 2010, Nov 2009 or Nov 2000? Being pretty apolitical, I don’t hear much except when there’s a budget crunch. So, forgive my naivete. Others here are no doubt more tuned in to current issues than I.

I don’t see the board in the day-to-day activities. It meets only six times a year, there’s no compensation, and Exec Comm is listed in minutes only 3 times in three year (per web site). The lack of interim meeting information probably is a legitimate concern. Maybe that’s what prompts so much Sunshine Law dialog. The lights still go on, classes assigned, bursar’s office does its job, faculty groups meet, student-government does its thing. The structure of the board did not stop Penn State College from becoming a University (1955?) and continue growing to present world-class status. I for one would not like to see the board reduced to a dozen or less. That just concentrates power into fewer, and possibly more insular, hands.

If all the incumbent trustees are replaced by sports-related alumni, then the "outside" will still say PSU is all about football. I suspect if you go to engineering or business or education sites, they want their alumni to fill the positions.

Board structure:
Open election selections via Legislature? Really? Do you really want the Philly-Pittsburgh folk picking names out of a hat? Wouldn’t that scenario have to apply to Lincoln and Pitt, also?

The current Governor’s input of membership is, at this point, the ex-officio members from his cabinet. As best I can see, most of the other appointments were made by Rendell and Ridge.

Also, on another post, someone (Frank O’Brien??) asked about ag societies. I don’t know a precise list but best guess is PA state fair assn, PA farm bureau, PA state grange, Farmers’ union, and maybe some of the producers groups such a Jersey cattle club. Don’t quote me on that. Consider that about 1 in 7 jobs in PA are ag related and that some Ag College funding is derived/handled separately Dean Bruce McPheron has written about a lot of the current budget crunch and how it affects the College. And, yes, I am an ag grad so do hear more about this college than the others.

by be4time on Jan 19, 2012 8:23 AM EST reply actions