Trustees

I often attend the meetings of our Board of Trustees as a faculty guest, for at least part of the meeting, because of leadership roles that I have had on faculty committees.

Our trustees are not evil, but there is something about the power differential that being around them seems to warp reality. Administrators who are used to acting as kings start acting like peons.  There is a real sense that we are not to speak unless spoken to.  I wonder how much of that is just my university and how much of that applies to other universities.

A large part of these meetings is designed to educate the trustees to the point where they will agree with the decisions of the president and provost, where the merits of the proposals will be absolutely clear. The proposals before the trustees always deal with long-term planning for the institution, which I am painfully aware involves a broader perspective than I have from my place at the university.  In that sense, even as reality warps it is a grounding for me in issues that I don't normally contemplate.