The Ohio University Board of Trustees will decide the fate of the controversial presidential evaluation policy at its meeting tomorrow.
The University Resources, University Academics, Governance and Audit committees will meet today. The Executive Committee, which will discuss the presidential evaluation policy, will meet at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Ohio University Inn. The full board will meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow in Walter Hall.
The board will also look at the Five Year Vision Ohio Implementation Plan, a strategic academic and financial plan for the university.
Board Chair C. Daniel DeLawder said he was delighted with the plan.
We're in a much better position now
going forward than we have been in the past with an outdated plan he said.
The presidential evaluation policy was proposed by an ad-hoc committee. The committee based its recommended proposal on suggestions from the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges and on a study of presidential evaluations at other universities
Under the proposed policy, the president would be evaluated annually by the Board of Trustees through a self-evaluation and discussions among the president, executive committee and full board. Comprehensive reviews of the president will take place in the year before the last year of the president's contract. That type of review would require the board to collect input from university and other constituent groups.
The Presidential Evaluation Committee recommended that the board not conduct a comprehensive review this year because of the lack of time, although OU President Roderick McDavis's contract expires next year. In response, Student Senate passed a resolution on Jan. 24, urging the board to comprehensively evaluate the president this year.
The senate and other student groups also were upset by the lack of required constituent input in annual evaluations. Students for a Democratic Society plans to present a petition at the full board meeting tomorrow requesting the board ensure that all constituent groups are heard during each annual presidential evaluation.
Student Senate President Tim Vonville said he was very dissatisfied with where the process is headed.
We wanted more input included and for [the process] to be more transparent
and it's not
he said. It feels as if we've been kind of shot down.
DeLawder would not give his own opinion on the proposed process or speculate on how it would be received by the board, but said he was pleased with the committee's work.
I assure you that input from the university community has been and will be taken into consideration
DeLawder said.
Student Trustee Lydia Gerthoffer said she would also like the board to discuss conducting a comprehensive evaluation this year.
Regardless of what amendments are made
I'd like to see us come up with a policy during this board meeting
she said.
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