YSU trustees should reassess role they’re playing in hiring

Lost in all the excitement of James P. Tressel taking over the presidency of Youngstown State University after the short-lived tenure of Dr. Randy Dunn was this comment from Larry Shinn, consultant to the board of trustees, about the role they play in the hiring of high-ranking administrators:

“As I read your bylaws, it is the board of trustees that hires everyone,” Shinn of AGB Consulting said at a retreat earlier this month dessigned to explore the relationship between university boards and presidents.

“I’m surprised by that. I think the president ought to live and die by his own team.”

The board, whose members are appointed by the governor and serve nine-year terms, adopted a new policy in April 2013 that requires hirings to be approved by them. Prior to that, trustees ratified the appointments to top administrative positions made by the president. The ratification was generally pro forma because oftentimes the new hires were already on board by the time trustees rubber-stamped the president’s choices.

Why the change?

Here’s the explanation from board of trustees Chairwoman Carole Weimer, who noted that in the past the power was totally in the hands of the administration:

“When the trust between the administration and this board became weaker — there was not the trust and confidence in the administration — that’s when the board took some of the decision making.”

In April 2013, the president was Dr. Cynthia Anderson, who had spent 40 years as a member of the YSU community and had the strong support of just about every group, including the faculty, when she was named president in 2010 to succeed Dr. David Sweet, whose presidency was marked by tension between his administration and some trustees.

But Anderson’s popularity with the faculty, classified employees and professional staff took a hit after she insisted that they accept concessions in the first two years of the contract and a 2 percent raise in the third. She also alienated trustees with some of her hiring decisions, and then sealed her fate with the board when she unexpectedly announced that she was not going to stay beyond the three years of her initial contract.

Anderson left in July 2013, three months after the new hiring policy was adopted by the trustees.

Dr. Dunn, who came to YSU with impressive higher education credentials and a personality that endeared him to faculty, staff and classified employees, had begun to establish a close working relationship with the trustees when he decided to call it quits after just seven months to take over the presidency of Southern Illinois University.

Dunn had given the board no indication that he was pursuing the SIU position, and his departure left a bitter taste in the mouths of the trustees, the rest of the university community and the Mahoning Valley community at large.

Against that backdrop came Tressel, whose candidacy was proposed by business, political and community leaders in the Valley. A letter to the trustees urging Tressel’s appointment contained 31 names and was signed by Congressman Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th.

ROLE OF YSU BOARD

The new president has been on the job since late June, but he was formally installed Aug. 18.

Given the near unanimous support for him, the question of the role the board has been playing in the hiring of top management looms large.

As head football coach at Ohio State University and YSU, Tressel had final say over the hiring and firing of staff.

The consultant to the trustees, Shinn, who served 18 years as president of Berea College in Berea, Ky., raised an important point when he asked the board members what frame of reference they use to determine who to hire. After all, they aren’t involved from the very beginning when the pool of candidates is being created.

The position of trustee does not lend itself to micromanaging the operation of the university, which is why YSU’s board should let Tressel put together his management team.