As an Michigan State University alum (bachelor’s and master’s degrees) I, too, am disgusted by the recent actions of MSU’s former president and athletic director, and some current members of our board of trustees. They should all be ashamed of themselves.
I put the former president and athletic director in that category because they are stakeholders. MSU gave them great opportunities. President Kevin Guskiewicz had never been a university president before, and he knew what the board politics were like before he took that job, but he took it anyway. At the end of the day, he had a majority of trustees with him. Many CEOs would jump at a 5-3 vote on their respective boards. But, no, the president decided to leave. And with him went Athletic Director J. Batt who took a better opportunity. To that I say, don’t let the proverbial door hit you. They are not Spartans.
However, the board of trustees is another matter. Yes, the president had a majority of the board with him, but public wrangling has clearly taken its toll. Trustees need to know that they are there for one reason: To move the university forward. They are not there to vocalize their personal grievances. They are not there to interfere with operations. They are there to ask probing questions, again, that will move the university forward. I don’t believe suing the university for $25 million is moving the university forward. And, to the best of my knowledge, among the sanctioned trustees, none have ever served on a board until now.
I have heard enough. Enough from our former governors. Enough from the current speaker of the house. Enough from our trustees. At this point in time, I don’t support taking away people’s right to vote. However, it is time for a grown-up in the room to devise a thoughtful plan on how MSU can move beyond the griping among the board minority that has caused so much pain. For starters maybe the political parties ― Republicans and Democrats alike ― need to do a better job of screening their nominees.
Elizabeth Driscoll Boyd
Lansing
A Board of Trustees should have standards. MSU’s does not.
A Board of Directors has two main responsibilities. One is to help set the strategic direction of the entity it supports. The other is governance ― making sure the proper internal controls are in place to ensure assets are used in the best interest of the organization and that all ethical and legal standards are met.
As a member of the board, you have a fiduciary responsibility to the organization’s stakeholders. This includes making decisions that are in the best interest of the organization and putting the organization’s interests ahead of any personal agenda.
Board members are typically selected based on their professional background. An ideal board will include people with varied backgrounds who are passionate about the organization they support. Being a board member requires intelligence, experience and the ability to engage in thoughtful dialogue to advance the organization’s mission. Some of those conversations include difficult topics but board members need to be able to approach those discussions in a productive manner. At the end, however, the board must speak as one.
The Board of Trustees at Michigan State University fall woefully short of these ideals.
Michigan is one of four states that chooses the boards for its major universities through a general election. That means that the Board of Trustees at MSU, the Board of Regents at the University of Michigan and the Board of Governors at Wayne State University, are elected by the public. Individuals who run for these offices do not have to meet any criteria other than getting the most votes in the election. Hopefully, the winners meet the qualifications of a board member, but there are no guarantees.
What we’ve witnessed at Michigan State shows us the flaws in this system. We have two members of the Board of Trustees who seem to put their personal agenda ahead of the university’s best interest. As a result, President Kevin Guskiewicz has resigned and will take a similar position at Clemson University. It’s a major blow to MSU. What he accomplished in his short two-year tenure is remarkable. He left to take a position with a significant salary reduction and, in an open letter to the MSU community, specifically called out the dysfunction of the MSU board as the reason for his departure.
If that isn’t enough, J Batt will resign as athletic director to take a similar position at the University of Kentucky, leaving MSU with two huge leadership voids.
The board recently passed a new Code of Ethics. Two members, Rema Vassar and Mike Balow, refused to sign. This is the straw that broke the back and cost MSU two incredible executives.
Vassar and Balow are not aligned with Michigan State University’s goals. They do not support the university’s direction.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer should advance an amendment to the state’s constitution so that board members to our three largest universities are vetted by an appointment process.
Michigan State University, my beloved alma mater, has paid a huge price for the actions of individual board members. It’s time for a change. GO GREEN!
Ken Stanecki
Canadian Lakes, Michigan
An alteration is necessary for appointing MSU’s next Board of Trustees
How ironic that the process of electing governance boards for our three major state universities is supposed to mitigate politics and ensure accountability over the governor-appointed process used for Michigan’s 12 other state universities. The Michigan State University board specifically is both politically super-charged and skirts accountability for the most recent president’s departure.
This MSU board does not deserve our trust to select the next president. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer must use her authority to now remove elected trustees and appoint replacements. The state legislature must then initiate and pass a resolution amending the state constitution so MSU, University of Michigan and Wayne State Universities trustees are selected by the full appointment model used for the other state universities.
Scott Bohen
The writer is a resident of Brighton and an MSU alumni
MSU deserves more from its Board of Trustees
As a three time graduate of Michigan State University, former Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and president emeritus of Bradley University, I am writing to express my extreme disappointment in the current MSU Board of Trustees. They are not serving as responsible fiduciaries for the university as they are charged by statute, but rather as capricious agents of their own personal agendas. They embarrass all who care about MSU. It is past time for a change.
Let the MSU Alumni Association get involved in the identification and screening of future board candidates. MSU deserves “good governance” people in these important positions; people who want to do things for the university and not to the university.
David Broski
Holland
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MSU’s Board of Trustees needs to go | Letters
Reporting by Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
