AU will take its first steps in the hunt for a new president at a hearing today with students and faculty, university officials said.
A committee of four trustees, led by Matthew Pittinsky, founder of Blackboard Inc. and an AU alumnus, will consult with university and student leaders to decide how to proceed in the search for a new president - a process that could take more than a year.
The consultations begin at a time when the board of trustees has been gripped by scandal. Four members resigned recently after the investigation into former President Benjamin Ladner's finances revealed he had misused almost $500,000 in university funds.
In total, AU has lost six members of its senior management in the past month. The president, four trustees and Vice President Albert Checcio, who announced this week he will resign in December to join Fordham University.
Adding to the board's woes was the sharp criticism it received from students and faculty for its decision to award Ladner a multi-million dollar severance package. The decision aroused the attention of Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, who last week requested university documents related to the deal.
In the wake of AU's troubles, only 21 trustees remain on the board, which under university bylaws requires 25 members to conduct business, according to Mark Huey, assistant to the president. But it can keep operating because the trustees who resigned are considered part of the board until new members are elected.
Another board committee is searching for new trustees. There are eight names currently under consideration, Huey said, but it won't be until May 2006 that any new members take their seats.
It's wrong to assume those who have stayed are the "bad guys," Huey said. Being an AU trustee "gives them the right to check out books at the library, but nothing monetary." Those still serving are deeply committed to the university, he added.
University officials insist there is no rush to find new executives.
There's "a feeling on the board that we're in very strong shape as an institution," Pittinsky said. "We don't feel like there's pressure to move quickly."
Professor Barbara Bird, chair of the management department in the Kogod School of Business, agreed with Pittinsky's assessment. "We're in good shape," she said.
But the board, she added, "[needs] to do some reformation to create at least a partial clean slate." It could do this by bringing in new trustees and changing the university's charter to create more checks and balances. "The trustees don't report to anybody, [except] maybe Congress, " Bird said. "They do need to get their act in order to get a new president to come [to AU]."
Pittinsky echoed Bird's positive outlook.
"It's easy to attract somebody when the organization at the university is on an even keel," he said. "This committee gets us looking to the future, and it's a bright future"
