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IN THE LOOP: Whitworth's governance should be wide open
Editorial BoardNOTE: This article contains a correction.
In his presentation before the Board of Trustees, trustee Dave Myers* said, "Justice, love and excellence require accountability."
We agree. But accountability without transparency or openness is like water without hydrogen or oxygen. Transparency isn't just necessary for accountability, it's downright integral.
Most students spend four years at Whitworth and shell out up to $120,000 for the privilege. For that price, they deserve to know how those funds are being spent. They deserve the right to pop open Whitworth's outer case and take a look into the whirring gears and cogs inside.
This fall, we praised the board for openness and challenged the trustees to listen to students. In some ways, they have continued to appear open. Thanks to ASWU President Scott Donnell, a few trustees had lunch with a group of students April 17.
President Bill Robinson, outgoing chair Chuck Boppell and chair-elect Walt Oliver attended the April 16 ASWU meeting and spoke about their background.
This continued movement toward openness is healthy, but educating students about who the trustees are is only the first step.
Hearing brief biographies of Boppell and Oliver at the ASWU meeting didn't get much deeper than recitation of resumes. No questions were called for or asked and they left right after speaking. This was helpful, but the next step would be staying to listen. Dialogue is always more valuable than monologue.
Unfortunately, in other areas, students' access is dwindling.
For example, The Whitworthian has repeatedly requested that the board release the online discussion about the changes to the Student Handbook, which normally would have occurred during a public board meeting. While the student service committee agreed to the release of the discussion it still, to our knowledge, has not been released.
For the spring board meetings, The Whitworthian was no longer allowed to attend committee meetings, only the plenary sessions. The details essential to understanding and reporting on the issues are often left in committee. According to an e-mail from an administrator, some board members felt reluctant to speak with The Whitworthian present.
We are confident the board members have nothing to hide. We are confident that, the more students learn about the trustees' discussions, the more respect they'll have for the trustees' decisions.
Openness can be uncomfortable and messy. But informed dialogue only makes us stronger. One of the administrative complaints during the 8th of May protest last year was students did not have enough information on the issues. Inaccuracy is a casualty of having too little information, not of having too much.
The role of the board is to look at the long term rather than the short term. Current student needs and interests can easily be discounted under that rationale.
However, students will someday become alumni. If they dislike the institution's direction, they're unlikely to donate money when the Phoneathon comes a-ringin'.
Current students are part of the long term. To borrow a cliche: The children are the future.
A connection to Whitworth does not end when students receive their diplomas.
Reopen the committee meetings.
Publicly ask the student body questions.
The trustees do a great job. There's no reason to hide that fact.
Editorials in the "In the Loop" section reflect the majority opinion of the Editorial Board, which is made up of five editors.
*In the original posting, trustee Dave Myer's name was misspelled. We regret the error.
For this reason, The Whitworthian asks readers to be responsible and respectful in any comments posted. The responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not the whitworthian.com. Readers are also encouraged to report questionable comments by e-mailing editor@whitworthian.com.
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