Last Friday, Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder gave an address to the UNC Board of Governors and the Pope Center publishes his talk here.
Vedder’s big point is that college and university governing boards should not merely be rubber stamps for the administration. Left on their own, administrators are apt to make terrible blunders. Oversight from boards is essential, but most presidents don’t want any and try to minimize the opportunity for serious discussion of their plans. Often, they keep board members in the dark and then demand quick votes to approve whatever they’ve decided on. After the meeting, a few members of the UNC board stayed around to discuss that problem in detail.
