Just a couple of thoughts re the captioned matter for your consideration. I just received Saturday, and reviewed today, my Kansas Open Records request to the Board of Regents. They didn't like it much, and charged me $63.75. Oh well, it cost money to seek justice from the unjust. When WSU selected a new president for Gene Hughes, i.e., Don Beggs, KU controlled the 16 member selection committee to submit candidates to the BOR, with 5 KU graduates and one, shall we say, sycophant KU supporter. The Chairman of the committee was Frank Sabatini, KU undergrad and KU law school grad, and former member of the BOR, and current Topeka attorney. Co-Chair was Dr. Stephen M. Jordan, then Executive Director of the Board of Regents and KU professor on leave from KU. Then there was Donna Hawley, Ph.D. from the University of Kansas then directing the graduate nursing program at WSU. Then Deborah Haynes, a physician with the Northeast Family Physicians in Wichita, who obtained her M.D. degree from KU. Next was Al Higdon, BBA obtained from KU, and BA from WSU, who was a partner in a Wichita advertising agency, Sullivan, Higdon & Sink. The sycophant KU supporter, who never graduated from any university or college, but was a local broadcasting big-wig, who was then on the KU Advisory Board and had received the Grover Cobb Award from the University of Kansas. So, no question, KU controlled the selection process for Beggs, not only for the candidates for submission to the Board, but the Board itself, as we did not get the Board de-packed from KU's absolute monopolistic control until the following year. Moreover, Dr. Jordan advised this writer at the time that the committee had asked certain candidates to apply for the job. Do you suspect that president Beggs might have been one such candidate?!
But when KU selected a new "Chancellor", to replace Bob Hemenway in January of 2009, the 18 member committee was entirely KU folks, either KU graduates or faculty, and including two KU students, and two regents Jill Docking and then president and CEO of the Board Reginald L. Robinson. No WSU or KSU folks were on the committee.
Likewise, when K-State selected a new President to replace Jon Wefald in July of 2008, the 18 member committee was entirely K-State folks, either K-State graduates or faculty, three K-State students, and two Manhattan community types, a president of a steel company and an accountant company CEO, who's universities are not identified; with otherwise the sole exception being Reginald Robinson KU undergraduate and KU law school graduate, and then the President and CEO of the Board on the committee as one of two Representatives of the Board, the other being Jarold Boettcher, a K-State graduate. No WSU folks were on the committee.
Then we have the case of a new president for Emporia State University back in September of 1996. A 15 member committee was appointed apparently all of which were Emporia State University folks: 3 ESU Administration and staff; 2 ESU students, 4 ESU alumni and community members; 4 ESU faculty members, a former Regent, Norman Jeter who chaired the search committee; with the sole exception being Dr. Stephen M. Jordan, then the executive director of the Board of Regents, on leave as a professor from KU. No WSU or K-State folks were on the committee.
The most recent ESU new president selection committee occurred in June of 2011. The 19 member committee appointed are apparently all Emporia State University folks. The chair, Deryl Wynn, is a ESU graduate. 7 ESU faculty, staff and administration are on the committee. 2 ESU students. 4 ESU alumni and foundation members. 3 members of the Emporia community are not identified as to their universities. And, two members representing the Board of Regents, Dr. Mildred Edwards of Wichita, and Dr. Andy Tompkins present President and CEO of the Board. Apparently, ESU gets to pick their own new president. Perhaps our de-packing the Board of Regents was beneficial to ESU.
Finally, there was the committee to select a new president for Pittsburg State University, October 2008, to replace the retiring president Tom Bryant. An 18 member committee was appointed: Bill Docking former Regent of KU and Arkansas City as chair; 6 PSU faculty, staff and administration; 2 PSU students; 4 PSU alumni/foundation; 3 members representing the Pittsburg community, Gene Bicknell, PSU Senior Trustee and PSU Foundation Board, Ed McKechnie, former State Representative, university not identified, and Mark Werner, bank president, and former mayor and city commissioner of Pittsburg; and 2 members representing the Board of Regents, Dick Hodges, Regent, and Reginald L. Robinson, then President and CEO of the Board, and KU undergraduate and law school graduate. Again, with the exception of Docking and Robinson and possibly the 3 community leaders who's universities are not identified, the committee appears to be otherwise entirely PSU folks. No WSU or K-State graduates appear to be on the committee.
The Board Associate General Counsel, Marcel Schwartz, advises that they have no documents for the last time Fort Hays State University obtained a new president.
The Associate General Counsel included minutes of a conference call on October 6, 2008 re the appointment of Pittsburg State University search committee that included "Pittsburg State University Presidential Search Charge to the Search Committee", as follows, ..., charge 5:
"Committee members shall commit to preserve the confidentiality of the search process and candidate identities. Such confidentiality is essential to the successful outcome of the search and must be maintained with professionalism and diligence at all times throughout the search process."
I believe this statement to be much too broad and capable of being in violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act to the extent "the search process" is meant to include discussion of policy matters in closed executive sessions. It fact, I believe the Board always conducts these entire search committee meetings process in closed executive sessions discussing, inter alia, policy matters, in violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act. I therefore believe that charge 5 was meant to be too broad to include discussion of every matter in closed executive session, and as a chilling factor for any reasonable attempt that might occur for the selection committee to comply with the Kansas Open Meetings Act and discuss policy matters in open public meeting session.
Well, there you have it. What is it do you suspect the current WSU selection committee will look like. Do you suspect it will be made up entirely of WSU graduates and folks like KU and K-State committees are comprised of their graduates and folks, or will the KU folks again control WSU's selection committee. And, do you suspect the entire selection committee process will be conducted in secret closed executive sessions, in violation of the
Kansas Open Meetings Act, failing to discuss
policy matters in open sessions, so that the public can understand what
policies their next president of their university they pay the taxes for, is being committed to in order to obtain the position. The process that we pay for with our tax dollars, as it has occurred in the past is called hidden government. If you agree with the substance of this post, and want to understand what policies the next president of WSU will be committed to -- before he receives the position to legally represent WSU in WSU's best interest -- in order to obtain the position; call your representatives in the Kansas House and Senate, and ask them to request of the Board of Regents, that they allow the selection committee to properly follow the
Kansas State Law, as stated by the legislative intent at the time of the passing the
Kansas Open Meetings Act, Attorney General opinions on the
KOMA, and Kansas Supreme Court decisions on the
KOMA, and
require policy matters to be discussed in open public meetings. In this writers opinion, only if our representatives put this kind of pressure on the Board of Regents, will there be a possibility of a change in Board of Regents procedures, which it is submitted presently have the affect of circumventing and vitiating the
Kansas Open Meetings Act. By Fred Marrs
P.S. See: Selection Committee Issue for a new President of WSU - Revisited 30 Oct. 2011, for example:
The Board can have their policies, but they need to take credit for them in open public meeting so that the legislature and the public will know, that it is the Board of Regents that is requiring the policy on the institution and the chief executive officer, not the chief executive officer legally responsible for the institution he represents making the decision independent of the Board. But the CEO of the Board and the Board of Regents members want to keep their policy determinations in secret and hid from responsibility to the legislature and the public: precisely because they know they would be criticized for unmeritorious policies; further could not justify unmeritorious policies applied to one university only; and further, contra to the stated legislative statute and intent of the legislature.
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