Louisiana College trustees last week received an update on efforts to address accreditation concerns and took one action designed to aid in that work.
Louisiana College trustees last week received an
update on efforts to address accreditation concerns and took one action
designed to aid in that work.
During a called meeting on the Pineville campus,
trustees also reviewed the status of a lawsuit challenging the election
of Joe Aguillard as school president.
The meeting was set primarily to adopt a budget for
the upcoming academic year. Trustees had delayed adoption of the budget
from its March session in order to allow school administrators to
gather more accurate estimates on fall enrollment.
In addition to addressing the budget, trustees also
received a review of steps being taken to address accreditation
concerns. The school was placed on probation by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools accrediting agency last December
for concerns related to governance and academic freedom. In January,
Aguillard was elected president, and trustees took up the task of
responding to accrediting concerns.
Last week, Aguillard reviewed several steps that have been taken along those lines:
• Trustees have rescinded a hiring policy adopted in
September 2004. The 2004 action amended the existing hiring policy for
new faculty members to allow trustee representatives earlier
involvement in the process. Some saw that move as trustee encroachment
on the responsibility of the school president to hire faculty members.
• Trustees have rescinded a textbook screening
policy adopted in December 2003. That policy required all classroom
materials to be approved by department chairs and the vice president
for academic affairs. Previous policy had given responsibility for
selection of classroom materials to faculty members. The change
elicited protest from faculty members and others.
• Task forces have been established to address the
areas of academic freedom, the faculty handbook and the selection of
textbooks and curriculum materials.
• Trustees have approved resolutions on the board’s
commitment regarding accreditation findings, on undue influence of the
board, on the faculty handbook, on textbook policy and on academic
freedom.
• A faculty workshop has been held under the
guidance of a national consultant regarding the role of the faculty,
board and administration in the accreditation process. A particular
focus was academic freedom within a Christian institution. The workshop
also addressed the area of policy making for the college, clearly
emphasizing “that the board is the active policy-making body of the
institution (with shared governance/input from administration and
faculty and the role of the administration and faculty is to implement
policy,” Aguillard reported last week.
• Aguillard and trustee Chair Tim Johnson of
Choudrant met with officials of the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools to discuss steps taken by the board to ensure the school’s
accreditation.
• A resolution was adopted by the Louisiana Baptist
Convention Executive Board spelling out the relationship between the
convention and the college.
• Resolutions have been adopted by the LC Student
Government Association in support of the school president,
administrators, faculty and trustees.
“We offer and challenge all of our Louisiana College
family – faculty, administrators and board – to work collaboratively to
continue to address the (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools)
issues under the leadership of our consultants,” Aguillard said
following his review.
Later in their meeting, Louisiana College trustees
took an additional step in the accrediting arena by approving a motion
regarding the trio of task forces.
To alleviate concerns and ensure input, trustees
agreed to place the same number of trustees and faculty members on the
task forces. Previously, the groups have included more trustee
representatives. They also include administrative representatives as
well.
Aguillard will be responsible for appointing additional faculty members to the task forces.
In addition, trustees heard a brief description of
academic freedom from incoming Vice President of Academic Affairs Glenn
Sumrall. Sumrall will assume his post this summer but was present for
last week’s meeting.
Asked to discuss the issue, Sumrall acknowledged persons have different understandings of academic freedom.
“But academic freedom has to be within the context
of the mission of an institution, …” he noted, saying this holds true
for all schools, including Catholic and Mormon ones as well as Baptist
ones.
“Everything that goes on on a campus should – and I
would say must – be done within the mission of the institution,”
Sumrall emphasized to trustees.
Thus, “absolute” academic freedom simply does not
exist, he insisted. He also acknowledged that the issue will not be
easily resolved at Louisiana College.
However, the key is to define academic freedom
clearly and enforce that definition fairly, which is what the
accrediting agency requires, Sumrall said.
In one final matter last week, trustees received an
update regarding the suit challenging Aguillard’s election.
A group of Louisiana College friends and alumni
filed the suit, arguing that trustees acted improperly in electing
Aguillard in January.
His election came after an initial nominee was
elected but then withdrew without signing a contract. The original
search committee then was expanded and directed to interview Aguillard.
Plaintiffs in the suit said that process violated school bylaws. In a
March ruling, an Alexandria judge agreed the bylaw process had not been
followed at every point, but he ruled that Aguillard was elected by a
majority of trustees in a legitimate manner.
Since then, plaintiffs have indicated they will
appeal the decision. But they also met with trustee representatives to
negotiate a possible settlement of the issue, including the payment of
some fees related to the case.
Last week, Alexandria attorney Brad Drell told
trustees those negotiations had failed. However, he also predicted any
subsequent appeal of the earlier ruling in the matter would fail as
well.
Even if it should succeed and Aguillard is removed
as president, a majority of trustees still would be able to re-elect
him as president, Drell maintained.