This week, the Ohio University Board of Trustees fielded questions from Faculty Senate, but has planned no similar events to engage students. In fact, among the past four years, I can think of no instance where the Board of Trustees made such an effort.
I suppose the argument could be made that students are already represented to the board via our student trustees, but that is not sufficient representation for the over 22,000 students enrolled at Ohio University. Our student trustees work incredibly hard, but they are hindered by not having a vote and not being democratically elected, so realistically they will never be able to represent more than a handful of students.
The Board of Trustees’ statement of expectations says that the Board should “seek input from faculty, staff and students,” but seeking requires an attempt to find something – comments and concerns from students, presumably. I am not persuaded that receiving feedback from two students who are obligated to show up to the board’s meetings qualifies as seeking.
Even if student trustees were more effective, they still would not supplant the value of an open forum between students and the board.
I suggest that Board Chair Sandra Anderson extends an open invitation to visit and take questions from student groups who are interested.
The student population is so large that just talking to Student Senate would be completely insufficient. If the board wants to do this right, that means talking to The Post, The New Political, and yes, the Ohio University Student Union.
After all, if the board wants to avoid future protests at their meetings, they should probably start by at least acknowledging the existence of the Student Union and then begin a dialogue.
This exercise would not just benefit students, but also the board itself. It’s pretty clear that the board is utterly out of touch with its student population, and I am sure they it would appreciate being informed about what concerns we have.
I understand that the board is not actually in Athens that often, and visiting several student groups may be taxing for them, so I have a second proposal. At every board meeting, there should be time set aside to allow the public to address the trustees.
This is not a radical proposal, as it is already common practice at other universities. For example, Rutgers University allows students to address items on the agenda if they notify the board secretary at least 24 hours in advance.
OU is a public institution and the public deserves a say in how the university is run. If members of the board want the prestige that comes along with being a trustees, then they must also be willing to accept the responsibility that comes along with it, which means actively seeking input from faculty, staff, students and the public at-large.
Matt Farmer is a senior studying political science and education. Do you think the Board of Trustees seeks enough input from students? Email him at mf291209@ohiou.edu.
