CSU Faculty Voice: Here's What Must Actually Occur for Bruce Rauner and His Surrogate(s) to "Take Over" Chicago State

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Here's What Must Actually Occur for Bruce Rauner and His Surrogate(s) to "Take Over" Chicago State

I believe that most of the staff employed here at Chicago State are astute enough to see through that nonsensical effort to insure that Watson's cronies retain their positions by creating this idiotic diversion about Rauner and Vallas "taking over" Chicago State. It's time for a lesson on University governance for anyone who would like to have ammunition to counter this moronic and utterly dishonest attempt to keep the University in the hands of the people who have nearly destroyed it.

First, no single individual, not even the Governor, in the State of Illinois is able to effect a change at the top of this educational institution. 110 ILCS 660 is the Chicago State Law. Section 5-10 reads: "There is hereby created a body politic and corporate which shall be styled the Board of Trustees of Chicago State University (hereinafter called the Board), and which shall operate, manage, control, and maintain Chicago State University in accordance with the rights, powers and duties now or hereafter vested by law in that Board." Section 5-15 of the Chicago State Law also specifies the size of the Board: "The Board shall consist of 7 voting members appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and one voting member who is a student at Chicago State University."

For the author(s) of that ridiculous broadside or for anyone else who might actually believe this conspiracy is afoot, here's the reality. No matter who the Governor might want to be President of Chicago State, s/he has no authority to place anyone in that position. The only way anyone becomes President of this University is by garnering a majority of the votes from the Chicago State Board of Trustees. Since there are eight Trustees, that means five votes. In essence, the Watson acolytes making this spurious accusation of a conspiracy to install Vallas as CSU President are actually accusing the other Board members of being in cahoots with Rauner's scheme. If the three holdover Board members are continuing to do Watson's bidding, as they have for the past several years, that means that all five of the remaining Board members would have to be on board with this nefarious attempt to take over the school. I wonder which of these cowardly pro-Watson minions wants to tell Kam Buckner, Nicholas Gowen, Tiffany Harper, and Paris Griffin that they are part of a conspiracy to turn the University over to Bruce Rauner.

Because of the University's legislatively-mandated governance structure, if Paul Vallas ends up heading Chicago State's turnaround effort, it will be because the new CSU Board feels he is the person most likely to get the job done.

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Thanks to Haki Madhabuti

"1. He/she must be a scholar of national note, with significant peer review publications and books in his or her field. There must be no doubt as to his/her standing in the community of scholars. This would also include a history of the candidate’s participation in the appropriate professional organizations.

2. He/she must have served with distinction as the administrative head of a major unit within an institution of higher learning or at the important position of Provost and/or Dean. Of course, prior service at the presidential level is preferred.

3. He/she must have a documented history of raising significant monies from the private and public sectors. At most major and research one universities it is not unusual to expect the president to come with a plan to raise in excess of half a billion dollars or more in the first few years.

4. The prospective president must have a consensus buy-in from the faculty, students, administration and staff, therefore, arriving with a unity mandate to lead by joining a University community that has bought into his or her vision for the future."

From an open letter to the CSU Community, 2009.