Year after year it’s the same thing when it comes to the Board of Trustees; there is little involvement on the issues that come before them. The Board of Trustees will often simply follow the recommendations that are sent up to them from the various task forces and committees without healthy discussion. This rubber stamping by the Board of Trustees is not only harmful to N.C. State students, but the University as a whole.
When the Board of Trustees met for its quarterly meeting Friday they did a disservice to the students, as they have for many years. The Board briefly discussed the recommendation from Chancellor Oblinger on tuition and fees and then proceeded to vote. The lack of real discussion of the whole board as well as its Student and Campus Affairs Committee shows a complete disrespect to every student at NCSU.
There was only one member of the Board who made it a point to argue and debate the proposed tuition and fee increases, our Student Body President Will Quick. Had Quick not spoken up there would not have been any discussion of these two important issues. In both the Student and Campus Affairs Committee meeting on Thursday and the full board meeting on Friday, Quick presented a well stated and thought out argument against most of the fee increases and tuition increase. Quick fought for students’ wallets in that he voted against the tuition and fee increases both in the committee and in the full board; additionally, his no vote was the only one.
According to the NCSU Web site, the Board of Trustees, “shall also serve as [an] adviser to the chancellor concerning the management and development of the institution.” While the members of the Board of Trustees may advise the chancellor in private it is important that the Trustees voice their advice in a public forum, especially if they disagree.
It is the job of the Trustee to serve as a check on the chancellor as well. Don’t get me wrong, I think that Chancellor Oblinger is doing a wonderful job, but on tuition and fees many students, myself included, disagree with some of his recommendations. The Trustees must listen to both the chancellor’s recommendations and those of the students. It is the duty of each Trustee to then debate the merit of each proposal and if there is any disparity between what the chancellor and the students are recommending then the Trustees must discuss the differences and come up with a solution.
Has the Board of Trustees worked to come up with a solution between the differing recommendations of the chancellor and the students? No. The time spent discussing the tuition and fees in the committee and with the full board was approximately 40 minutes. Forty minutes to discuss an issue that will affect the wallets of you and me is not nearly enough time for such an important issue.
Those who will disagree with my assertions will say that there have been multiple levels of the tuition and fee process and I agree there has. It’s like in the United States Congress, if a bill comes out of a sub-committee and then is altered in the full committee, should no one attempt to amend it when it gets to the full floor? Also, if there is a difference between the House and Senate in the bill it is a conference committee that finds common ground between the two bills. The Board of Trustees is much like the conference committee in that it is their responsibility to make the final decision with all recommendations.
If a board fails to ask questions and find out different points of view of an issue and simply votes yes then it is unnecessary to have such a board.
When making decisions that affect 30,000 plus people it is imperative that those who are responsible for the decision making actively question and carefully analyze what is before them. Debating and discussing the important issues that are facing students, faculty, staff and the University is a must when it comes to the highest decision making body of NCSU.
E-mail Matt at [email protected].