No-holds-barred report sent to YSU's president

Anyone reading the report of the Labor-Management Review Panel at Youngstown State University will be struck by the straightforward language used in describing the circumstances that led to last fall's employee strikes on campus and in laying out a plan of action for President David Sweet that could ensure future labor peace.
And considering that it was Sweet who created the special panel with the expressed purpose of providing him with an unfiltered, objective view of this important issue, the recommendations will undoubtedly be given serious consideration.
Details of one of the recommendations spread like wildfire through campus, and the onus is now on Sweet to quickly decide what to do. Why quickly? Because the focus is on key members of his administration.
Here's how it was presented in the report:
"It is the recommendation of this panel that neither Mr. John Habat nor Mr. Hugh Chatman can serve effectively at the university in any capacity." It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the panel is calling for Habat, vice president for administration and finance, and Chatman, executive director for human resources and labor relations, to be fired.
Habat served on the administrative team on the faculty contract, while Chatman served on both administrative bargaining teams in the negotiations with the unions representing the faculty and classified employees.
In addition to singling out those two, the panel also spotlighted Dr. Thomas Maraffa, director of faculty relations who also serves as special assistant to the president and coordinator for the enrollment maintenance plan. The report calls for the appointment of a new director of faculty relations who would report to the provost, not the president.
The recommendation is bitter medicine, especially as it pertains to Habat, who is seen as Sweet's right-hand man.
Lightning rods
Thus, if the president decides not to embrace it, he has a responsibility to the university community, as well as YSU's stakeholders, the students and their parents, to explain why. He also must explain how he intends to overcome the obvious perception that three high-ranking administrators were the lightning rods for the labor storm last fall.
Finally, he must deal with the distrust the unions harbor of the administration and the board of trustees. Members of the board are appointed by the governor.
Sweet wants to carefully study the panel's report and discuss the findings and the recommendations with the trustees. He should do so expeditiously.
But whatever he and the trustees decide, the seven members of the panel, chaired by Provost Robert K. Herbert, are deserving of the community's appreciation and support. The other members are: Eugenia Atkinson, executive director of the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority and a former university trustee; Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112; Atty. Dennis Haines; James Morrison, retired professor and former chairman of YSU's psychology department; Atty. John Pogue, vice chairman of the YSU board of trustees; and Tom Shipka, professor and chairman of YSU's philosophy and religious studies and chairman of the Academic Senate.
They did a tremendous service to the university. They met 14 times, heard testimony from more than 40 individuals and reviewed 30 written submissions.
The fruits of their labor must not be given short shrift by anyone.