“It is vital in a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner so that the electors shall be advised of the performance of public officials and of the decisions that are reached in public activity and in making public policy. Toward this end, the chapter is adopted, making it possible for them or their representatives to learn and to report fully the activities of their public officials.”
- STATEMENT OF LEGISLATIVE INTENT, ARKANSAS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION, ADOPTED IN 1967
WHAT’S THE POINT?
The University of Arkansas trustees adopt a policy to comply with state law. We’re not that impressed.
The University of Arkansas board has spoken: Long live the chancellor.
After a three-hour executive session at the board’s most recent meeting, Chairman Jane Rogers emerged with a statement of support for Chancellor David Gearhart, who has had challenging times since 2012’s revelation of a multi million dollar operational deficit in the university’s fundraising arm. Trustee John Goodson immediately moved that Rogers’ statement be adopted as a resolution. The vote was unanimous. Lordy be.
And with that, the trustees officially swept the matter under the nearest Razorback-themed rug.
The priority was to move forward, perhaps with trustees convinced the legislative hearings, media scrutiny and prosecutors’ investigations had taken care of the matter more thoroughly than these gubernatorial appointees cared to. One might think trustees would view their lofty positions as the ones most directly responsible for getting to the bottom of what happened in the financial and public relations crisis at the beloved University of Arkansas. Their response, however, suggested the more important part of their jobs is to avoid hard questions that might take a little sheen off the UA image.
We think the university is a strong enough institution, to a great extent through Gearhart’s work, to withstand the scrutiny and relevant questions. The trustees apparently believed others had done their jobs for them well enough, so let’s move on.
We’ve been clear on a key point: The deficit at the UA never became a situation that merited Gearhart’s removal. He’s mostly good for the university.
But his reaction to questions about the deficit and how it happened did more damage than good. Questions arose about how transparent the university was being. The campus’ former chief spokesman, fired by Gearhart, accused the chancellor of creating an atmosphere of resistance to public transparency.
It just so happens the trustees at this recent meeting also adopted a new freedom of information policy that applies to the entire UA system. The trustees assured Arkansans the policy came about because of system needs, not any particular campus. Really. Seriously. This is NOT about the Fayetteville campus.
The policy provides guidelines for handling responses to requests for public records. It calls for the campuses to adhere to the “letter and the spirit” of the state’s public records and open meetings law.
That’s impressive. The University of Arkansas board has bravely declared its intention all campuses comply with a law on the books for more than 40 years.
That’s cutting-edge stuff.
Our hope is the UA can get back on track, focused on education and research, but time will tell whether policies adopted by trustees influence day-to-day behaviors on a campus whose chancellor still appears to view the last year and a half mostly as some personal attack. The UA has touted openness and transparency for years, but it fell apart at times it was most needed. Doing better isn’t just policy; it’s a fundamental part of serving a public university’s mission.
Opinion, Pages 5 on 02/06/2014