Sunday, April 26, 2009
Editorial: Radford U leaders must be speed readers
The board of visitors receives its reading assignments at the last minute.
From the RoundTable blog
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Imagine if students at Radford University showed up for their final exams without having cracked a book. They'd settle into their chairs, cram as much as they could in the final moments and hope they muddle through.
Members of the university's board of visitors don't have to imagine that nightmare. It's how they handle their meetings.
They meet four times each year to make big decisions about the school. Just last week they gathered to discuss tuition, faculty tenure and bonds to build a new student fitness and wellness center.
The documents that board members should review before making those decisions are assembled into a board packet that often runs to hundreds of pages. Yet the board does not receive the packet until the day of the meeting, leaving no time to study and prepare.
Most government bodies -- boards of supervisors and town councils, for example -- receive similar packets, but they receive them well in advance of meetings. That gives them and the public time to look things over. They can then have informed discussions and cast smart votes.
Not the board of visitors. It puts its agenda out in advance, as required by state open meetings law, but the supporting documents arrive at the last minute. That's perfectly legal and completely irresponsible. Board members cannot wade through complex documents on the fly. Nor can taxpayers, faculty and students who might have something to say about how this public institution operates.
Review after the fact isn't easy either. We can't find past packets anywhere on the board's Web site.
The policy is nothing new, but its foolishness is even clearer at this particular time. There is heightened interest on campus in what the administration is up to, and this inability to share information in a timely manner underscores the concerns of students and faculty.
