BoT Held Hostage By Brueggeman?

“Not only is the question before you concerning the position of the President, but likewise, the acting Chair of the Board who has held the board hostage in moving forward these recent weeks to intervene and respond to the crisis. This is unacceptable. I sincerely hope you have exercised your rights to hire an attorney separate from that of the GU Administration because the Board’s own integrity is seriously at stake.”  an excerpt from the letter by Ms Farinha Mutti below

October 26, 2006  Dear Board of Trustees,Gallaudet University:

May this correspondence serve as an addendum to my letter sent on October 16, 2006.Attached please find the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges Task Force Report, The Leadership Imperative (September 2006).  I believe the expertise and advice provided in the report for Boards of Universities contains the key points necessary for the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees to address the challenge ahead.  The challenge is “in order to support the societal transformation that surely will occur in the coming decades, higher education institutions must demonstrated a renewed commitment to strengthened governance and leadership” (pg. 50).   I am concerned that, due to the recent events at Gallaudet, the damage done by this ongoing crisis has skewed any rationale used by the Board for its decision to approve Dr Fernandes last May.  Your decision five months ago may not be the decision you need to make now.   

My questions for the Board’s consideration are below: Ø      This point forward, does Dr. Fernandes have the right leadership to help Gallaudet recover? The crisis has evolved to point where Leadership is imperative to restore the integrity of this institution. Dr. Fernandes’ integrity has been likewise compromised by this crisis, in addition to the faculty and the students.Ø      Was Dr. Fernandes’ overall personnel file (from date first hired to the present) given to the Board by current President I. King Jordan for review by ALL members of the board prior to deciding her appointment last May and/or prior before signing any contract in order to make an fully informed decision? (Overall personnel file should have included any disciplinary actions and/or letters of complaints that the Board members were not made aware of at the time of the selection was ratified by the Board). Ø      Does Dr. Fernandes possess the kind of leadership skill to handle a hostile work environment?   If she is the result of the hostility, will her appointment perpetuate the problem, rather than resolve it? Will this hostile environment create an increase in the number of students dropping out or withdrawing due to a post-protest traumatic experience?  This needs to be carefully assessed in order to determine the question: “What’s the harm in allowing Dr. Fernandes to carry out her duties for one year?”  

Ø      Does the Board’s vision and mission for Gallaudet’s future match the “Leadership Imperative” charge that is really needed now? A board must clearly convey the responsibilities it expects the President to fulfill, but it also must establish the conditions that generate success.  How successful can you possibly be with the selection you made, being that you certainly have failed to create conditions to end the crisis at hand? If you have answered no to any of the questions above, then the Board needs to vote to end this crisis with a new plan of action involving steps to bring in, new leadership from the outside.   Not only is the question before you concerning the position of the President, but likewise, the acting Chair of the Board who has held the board hostage in moving forward these recent weeks to intervene and respond to the crisis. This is unacceptable. I sincerely hope you have exercised your rights to hire an attorney separate from that of the GU Administration because the Board’s own integrity is seriously at stake.Growing alarmed while the clock ticks…Community-StakeholderEmployer of Gallaudet GraduatesSheri Farinha Mutti, CEO

NorCal
Center on Deafness

4708 Roseville Road, Suite 111

North Highlands, CA95670Email: SFarinha@Norcalcenter.org CC:      U.S. Secretary of Education, Margaret Spelling            U.S. Senator John McCain            U.S. Representative Lynn Woolsey            U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein            U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer            Ollie Cantos, Director, Domestic Policy, The White House            Jeff Rosen,
U.S. National Council on Disability            NAD President, Bobbie Beth Scoggins            Hearing loss Association of America, Brenda Battat            CAD President, Richard Ray
California Coalition of Agencies Serving the Deaf & Hard of Hearing, Ed Kelly, Chair           NorCal
Center on Deafness, Board of Directors, Angela Lee Foreman, President

            NorCal
Center on Deafness, staff            DHH-CommUNITY.com, Team            FSSA            Steven A. Mutti, Alumni            Ken Kresse, Director,California
Center for the Law & the Deaf
California
State
University, Northridge,

National
Center on Deafness, Director, Roz Rosen            NTID, Vice President, Alan HurwitzAll other Stakeholders of the Gallaudet – Community, Students, Faculty, and Alumni           
Washington Post           
Washington Times

Reprinted with permission by the author

elizabeth gillespie’s e-mail contact: mishkazena@aol.com