UI Held Hostage Day 429 - March 26

March 26, 7:30 a.m.

Understanding the University of Iowa
For the benefit of the regular readers of this blog who are actual or potential candidates for the UI president position -- and anyone else who may be interested -- I thought it might be useful to share some recent stories from one issue of one local paper that may provide a bit of insight into how to get and keep a job as UI President. Things you've always wanted to know but were afraid to ask.

Athletics and the UIHC. The most highly paid State employees in Iowa, by almost an order of magnitude, are our universities' athletic coaches.

In a take off on the oft repeated line that "the University Hospital is one of the nation's largest university-owned hospitals," some turn it on its head and say "the University of Iowa is one of the nation's largest hospital-owned universities."

Clearly, major responsibilities of any UI president relate to our health science institutions. (In fact, that was said by Regents President Michael Gartner to be the reason for rejecting all of the finalists produced by Search Committee I: they didn't have enough health science administration experience.) The UIHC is, if nothing else, one of Iowa's largest employers. And it is, of course, a great deal more than that.

Iowans are rightfully proud of the UIHC, and grateful when they need to use its internationally renowned staff and facilities to ease and extend their lives.

But when it comes to winning Iowans' "hearts and minds" -- or perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration, let's just say Iowans' "hearts" -- nothing rivals the collegiate athletic programs.

For example, I've noticed over the years that far more Iowans show up for the football games in Kinnick Stadium than for the string quartet concerts in Clapp Recital Hall or the outstanding academic lecturers the University brings to town that speak in the student union (IMU).

So if you're a candidate for UI president you might give this matter some thought before you go into your interview. On the one hand there are faculty -- including some of those serving on Search Committee II -- who look to the president to put the brakes on the more outrageous excesses of the athletic program. (We are presently addressing the degree to which we want to fund the program with revenues from the gambling industry.)

Even a local legislator (quoted in the Brian Morelli story, linked below) is quoted as saying, "The president needs more oversight over athletics." But, unlike academic issues -- or even the selection of a UI president -- the selection of coaches is considered so important that it cannot be trusted to the faculty, the president and other administrators, or even the Board of Regents.

The selection of coaches is solely the decision of someone called the "Athletic Director." To provide a little more detail and understanding, give a read to Pat Harty, "Barta Says He's Ready for Challenge; A.D. Has Final Say in Hiring," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 24, 2007, p. 1A.

So protective is the "A.D." of his coaches that the University has recently bought up dozens of potentially disparaging domain names that might otherwise have been bought and used for Web sites by critics of the coaches, teams and athletic program.

It's going to be kind of difficult for any UI president to break into this closed club, and virtually impossible to satisfy, simultaneously, the legislators, faculty, Athletic Department and the mobs we call "fans."

"Fit." Part of the reason a discussion of the coach-selection process is in the papers is because the Iowa basketball coach, Steve Alford, has just left for New Mexico. The reasons why are relevant to any new UI president, and not just because it's a part of understanding college athletics in Iowa.

It's also relevant to understanding what it takes to be successful in any job that functions in the spotlight in Iowa -- including the UI presidency. Yesterday's Des Moines Register story provided some clues. Rick Brown and Tom Witosky, "Alford at Iowa: What went wrong? Coach's era started strong, ended with a whimper," Des Moines Register, March 25, 2007.

One observer is quoted as saying, "I never sensed a comfortability level between the Iowa populace, and the Iowa fans, and Steve.''

Another used the more common word, "Looking back, it was just not a good fit.''

Iowans are remarkably welcoming, and seem to celebrate diversity -- religious, ethnic, nationalities from around the world -- as a casual drive through some areas of the state will reveal. But some individuals, whatever their background, find they "fit" in Iowa better than others. Learning what that means is tough enough for those who were born and raised here. For those arriving for the first time it can be a real challenge.

Alford never quite "got it." He was not "a good fit." Reading the Register's article to gain some insight as to why not would be time well spent for a UI presidential candidate.

Ambassador from UI to the state. Local legislators have now met with Search Committee II and let the committee know what they are looking for. According to Press-Citizen reporter Brian Morelli, "A primary theme from the local delegation was finding someone that will travel the state and one who finds more ways for UI to be a resource to all Iowans." Brian Morelli, "Lawmakers Weigh in On Search; Politicians want a president who communicates with state," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 24, 2007, p. 3A.

Senator Grassley (who is "a good fit") makes a point of traveling to all of Iowa's 99 counties -- I believe his goal is "every year." Is that something you will be comfortable doing as UI President? It will be kind of tough building a "world class" university from the corn and bean fields, and hog lots, of western Iowa. And it may not even be your favorite vacation spot, let alone where you want to work. But the same legislator -- and a major leader of the Iowa Senate at that -- who told Search Committee II he wants you to exercise "more oversight over athletics" also commented about your beloved predecessor: "One of the things David Skorton did was make it around the state as much as possible."

Just a gentle suggestion: When you come to the interview you might want to consider bringing either a black and gold banner with some bird on it (unauthorized use of the "Herky" might subject you to suit by the "AD" unless you first purchase a license) and the motto "Have tractor, will travel," or a detailed memo on how this traveling obligation can be met without requiring you to actually leave your office. Possibilities: (a) use the Iowa Communications Network, which does go into all 99 counties 24/7 to engage in "virtual travel" or (b) hire a director of "corn and bean field relations" to do it for you.

Regents-Faculty Relations and "Governance." Governance is a science as well as an art; it is the subject of a significant body of literature. I have a Web site devoted to the John Carver model and what the Iowa City Community School District Board did in implementing it within our District. Nicholas Johnson, "Board Governance: Theory and Practice," 2001.

Of course, Carver's is not the only model, although many of its basic principles are universally applicable and have been used for everything from Fortune 500 corporations to school boards to non-profits and NGOs from large to small.

The most fundamental requirement is that a board member not just jump in and start doing whatever comes to mind. Board members will hopefully have taken the time to familiarize themselves with the literature, thought long and hard about precisely what relationships and responsibilities they want to allocate between each other, as well as between the board as a whole and the CEO.

Most of the time this will involve the board setting measurable goals (Carver calls them "ends policies") parameters of behavior for the CEO, and leaving day to day administration (the choice of means for the attainment of those goals) to the CEO.

Among the difficulties in applying this in the public university setting is that it's not always clear who is "the board" and who is the "CEO" in this environment. There is the legislature that appropriates at least a significant portion of the university's budget, there is the "Board of Regents" (with at least some oversight and goal-setting responsibility), the "President" of the university, but a university for which many (if not most) of the "policies" are created by the faculty, staff and students. Indeed, the faculty plays a role in the hiring of the president (even if not the football and basketball coaches, as explained above). So the State Legislature is kind of a "board," as are the "Faculty Senate" and "Faculty Council," along with staff and student organizations.

Part of the problem this past year has been that the President of the Board of Regents has often behaved as if he was the CEO of the university, and the other board members something in the nature of his vice presidents. That has not worked well, if at all.

But neither is the university president a CEO in the sense that the chair of the Joints Chiefs of Staff is the CEO of the military, or a Fortune 500 corporation president is the CEO of the company.

The most that can be said is that a university is managed and administered under a system of "shared governance." Indeed, that has been the phrase, and the practice, at major universities for nearly 100 years in the United States.

Another of the features in last Saturday's Press-Citizen was a presentation of five leading personalities on the UI campus, faculty members who have served on presidential search committees, and who have held elective and appointive positions on the campus. While primarily addressed to the four newest Regents, their essays are of equal value to presidential candidates who will need to come into their interviews -- and their new office, if selected -- with some sense of faculty expectations regarding governance -- both by the president and the Board of Regents.

Their statements are very much worth reading in full, which is why the links are provided here, but the quoted excerpts will give a sense of their perspectives.

Francois M. Abboud, "What can we learn?: 'The optimist in me finds several silver linings'," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 24, 2007 ("the abhorrent behavior of the regent leadership that has brought upon itself irreparable damage").

Shelly Kurtz, "Most important lesson to be learned: 'The people's business should be done in public,'" Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 24, 2007 ("First, the regents should not be involved in the daily management of the university but should concentrate on setting the broader goals and policies . . .. Perhaps the regents should devote one of their upcoming meetings to a discussion of this distinction . . .. Governance models differ for the military, corporations, and universities and they should. What historically makes universities unique is the role employees who are faculty play in the model").

Steve McGuire, "New Regents Should Learn About Shared Governance," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 24, 2007 ("A governance model, as opposed to controlling, produces quality . . .. I am sure that the new regents know that the UI campus hopes they will reconstitute a process of deliberation, recapturing the effectual powers and responsibilities of the Board of Regents from Michael Gartner's rule").

Peter Nathan, "Don't impose, but respect and consult and listen," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 24, 2007 ("The regents have been criticized for . . . the attempt to impose a hierarchical governance system on what had been for many years a collaborative one. . .. The UI community believes that at least two regents apparently came into office believing that a different model of governance -- call it the top-down business model for want of a better description -- was called for. While this university governance model is not unique to these individuals -- it constitutes a growing, hopefully temporary, trend across the country -- it nonetheless represents a radical departure from past practices in Iowa").

Katherine H. Tachau, "To regain our trust, board must follow its own policies," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 24, 2007 ("By following the board's published policies . . . and working with the Faculty Senate . . . the new board can regain Iowans' confidence").

Now, hopefully, you are still interested in coming to Iowa and becoming our UI president!
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UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.

# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .

These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.

Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)

For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.

My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.

Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]

# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
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Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
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UI Held Hostage Day 426 - March 23

March 23, 9:30 a.m.

Democracy in General and . . .
Anyone who gets caught up in the political process (both in the sense of partisan politics or non-partisan policy issues in general), as I do, tends to focus on the issue at hand rather than the principles and processes that make the activity possible. For some reason, my thoughts for the last couple of days have turned to democracy in general. And today's blog entry will have a lot of examples of our democratic glass being half full. Here's the first:

. . . the UICCU in Particular
The Gazette reports this morning on the UICCU's membership meeting last Wednesday evening, March 21: Dave DeWitte, "Incumbents Win Credit Union Vote," The Gazette, March 23, 2007, p. 7B. But this story -- from my perspective -- is not about what happened October 4 or February 28 regarding members' reaction to "Optiva."

Nor is the story that the incumbents won re-election March 21.

Few if any expected that a credit union member, nominated from the floor for a Board position, at a poorly attended membership meeting, for which there had been no postcard notice to members, no advance notice to members of her nomination, and no access to a membership list for campaigning, could "win." At least as I understood it (my teaching a class that evening precluded my attendance, and I have not talked with the nominated candidate), while no one runs for anything with the desire or intention of losing, one of the primary purposes of nominating her was simply to establish the democratic principle that members should have some alternative in an "election" to simply rubber stamping the Board's closed-meeting nomination of three of its own members for re-election to three positions. There should be a choice. And that point was made, that purpose accomplished.

The story, in short, is about what has happened since February 28. Not only did the Board permit this nomination from the floor, there seems to be an increasing focus generally by the CEO and Board, as well as the membership, on "process," on democratizing what Congress calls credit unions: "democratically operated organizations."

There are now bios of the Board members, with an email address for each, posted on the UICCU Web site. Although there is no easy link to it, the Web site now offers the credit union's bylaws, some annual reports, and minutes from the October 4, 2006, and February 28, 2007, membership meetings. The direct link is: http://www.uiccu.org/asp/services/service_3_2.asp.

The Gazette reports CEO Jeff Disterhoft says "The board has begun exploring steps to make its electoral process more open [including] mail-in ballots [for elections to the board and] to become more proactive in notifying credit union members about their eligibility to be nominated for board positions."

Once the Board, CEO and interested members really get into the swing of this, and put their minds to it in a spirit of creative cooperation, the UICCU could actually become known as one of the nation's preeminent "democratically operated organizations" among credit unions -- in addition to being one of the best run in terms of financial returns to members. Wouldn't that be another feather in our fully-feathered cap of Iowa City brags!

Thinking Back . . .
. . . over the past few months I was kind of stunned to recall the number of times the democratic process played a significant role.

Now don't get me wrong. Democracy is messy. The democratic process can be manipulated. There's lots of apathy. (Recall the poll question: "What's the worst problem in our community, ignorance or apathy?" and the modal answer: "I don't know and I don't care.") Half the eligible voters don't bother to vote even for president. And in a school board, or city council, election that percentage may go as high as 90 or 95 percent.

Winston Churchill is credited with a number of observations about democracy: "democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." And, "The biggest argument against democracy is a five minute discussion with the average voter."

So I would not argue that the results of the democratic process are always the best. But I would share Churchill's view that on average, over time, they will be better than any alternative design for decisions. Moreover, the process can contribute to an individual's self-actualization, and sense of empowerment, and that is humanizing and good for the soul.

I think back to the November election. Not because "the Democrats won" in both Washington and Des Moines -- I have as much problem with the Democrats as I do with the Republicans -- but because it represented a citizen response, involvement, organization, action -- and results.

I think of the Regents' actions a couple of weeks later -- not because of their conduct in general, and the mess they made of the UI presidential search in particular -- but because of what happened next. Every group on campus took the unprecedented action of voting "no confidence" in the Regents. A new search committee was created that has operated with dignity and openness. And the new governor has now appointed four new Regents.

I suddenly realized that the Iowa rainforest project, which I have been writing about for four years or more, has not been heard from for a matter of months. If it fails (it has to raise a $50 million match by the end of this year to get the $50 million from Senator Grassley toward the $200 million it needs and for which it has not raised a dime in 10 years) it will be in no small measure because of the public opinion of Iowans who cared enough to inform themselves about it.

My concern about the UI ties with the gambling industry have been addressed by the UI's Faculty Council and Faculty Senate.

There was the rather unprecedented turnout and vote of the UICCU membership at the February 28 meeting regarding "Optiva" with -- so far as I am aware -- virtually no organized effort, aside from the postcard notice sent to members by the Board.

Yesterday I found myself chatting with some representatives of the carpenters union, standing with a banner on the sidewalk in front of the Pentacrest. I reflected later on this tangible example of one of the forms of free speech that our democracy both requires, and makes possible.

Another fundamental form of democracy's free speech is citizen participation in media -- letters to the editor in our local papers, calling in to radio talk shows, challenging stations' license renewals, creating programs for cable's public access channels, and of course blogging.

Maybe my reflection about the carpenters' banner was because I had just come from a recording studio where I was narrating a half-hour program for Pacifica Radio about the RadioForPeople.org project. This is a coalition of community radio groups trying to bring national attention to what is believed to be a forthcoming FCC opening up of a window for applications for community radio stations. They want to inform interested citizens throughout the country of this opportunity, and encourage them to get ready to apply.

I often keep the radio on around the house, tuned to NPR -- and especially when our local station is rebroadcasting from the world's best news organization, the BBC. So when I got home from work I caught the tag end of an NPR piece about some blog that is promoting citizen journalism. If I got the story right, it is helping to organize 100 or more citizens to divide up, read, and comment on some 3000 Department of Justice documents (perhaps, I don't know, relating to the fired U.S. Attorneys).

Next on my agenda was a local gathering prompted by a national organization, freepress. It's an example of the impact of the Internet on local and national politics and citizen action that was dramatized in the Dean campaign. Freepress sends out the emails, makes the materials available, and before you know it there are gatherings in thousands of living rooms across the country, listening to a live, Internet distributed discussion between Phil Donahue, Robert McChesney and Josh Silver. Following that, a DVD distributed to our host by the organization enabled us to watch presentations from the organization's last national gathering (in Memphis this year) a couple of months ago. (It includes a hilarious interview between the real Helen Thomas and a George W. Bush look-alike and impersonator.) Freepress, around for only four years, pulls as many as 4000 participant activists to its national conventions.

Afterwards, we discussed among other things the forthcoming community, full-power FM stations that RadioForPeople is promoting, a TV license challenge some in the group had filed, and the Iowa legislature's vote to cut back on citizen access to television by way of the public access channels on cable.

This morning, as I came downstairs to make coffee, I got the tag end of a BBC report about the value of blogs from Iraq for the mainstream media.

Democracy in This Morning's Newspapers

Once I turned to the morning papers, with my mind on this democracy theme, I noticed . . .

Mesquakies to Vote on Casino Alcohol Sales

Since 1857, when the Mesquakie Indians discovered that the white man had this crazy notion that land could be "owned" (rather than shared), they have bought up the land on which they live -- which is why 1500 of them live outside of Tama on a "settlement" rather than a "reservation." On their settlement they have had the good judgment to have created, and maintained, a prohibition on the sale of alcohol for the past 150 years. They also operate what I characterize as the Native Americans' Non-Violent Revenge: a gambling casino. But theirs is a casino that does not serve alcohol. In an increasingly competitive gambling market in Iowa that policy doesn't help the casino's bottom line. Not only do you lose the revenue from the very profitable sale of alcohol, you also lose the increase in gambling losses patrons suffer when drunk. How are the Mesquaki going to resolve this difficult choice? They're going to vote. Orian Love, "Should Tribe Sell Alcohol at Casino? Meskwakis Divided Over Plan to Reverse Long-Standing Tradition," The Gazette, March 23, 2007, p. 1A.

Cedar Rapids Citizens' Input

The City of Cedar Rapids, as well as The Gazette, seem to sponsor quite a few citizen input sessions. That's another form of, or consequence of, democracy. Anyhow, they did it again last night at the first of two "Enhance Our Neighborhoods" gatherings. They're trying to come up with ideas for the city's "core neighborhoods." Rick Smith, "C.R. Gets Input From Residents; Levee, Bad Landlords and Tenants Among Main Concerns," The Gazette, March 23, 2007, p. 1B.

Non-Political Politicians

Those who have held public office -- or who could probably win, were they to choose that path -- often opt to focus their democratic contribution on activities other than capital-P "Politics." The Gazette quotes Senator Tom Harkin speaking of former Vice President Al Gore, and his campaign regarding global warming, "Maybe he is better able to [make a difference] now than as a candidate running for president." E. Michael Myers, "Harkin Meets With Gore; But No Talk of Gore Presidential Run," The Gazette, March 23, 2007, p. 5B. This was certainly Ralph Nader's judgment when, during the 1970s, he was probably responsible for more progressive legislation passed by the U.S. Senate than any elected senator.

Response to Loss of Public Access Cable Channels

Our elected legislative representatives in Des Moines have yielded to the pressures (and campaign contributions?) of phone companies that want a piece of the cable television pie -- but don't want to give back what cable companies have given as a result of local franchises. Public access channels, franchise fees, and a requirement that all neighborhoods be wired will become a thing of the past. But city council members and officials, as a result of knowledgeable local critics of the legislation, are beginning to fight back. Hieu Pham, "Franchise Bill Worries Some City Leaders; Fear Losing Local Control of Cable Deal," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 23, 2007, p. 1A. In fact, this is one of the subjects discussed at that local gathering of media activists last night.

Retention of Basketball Coaches

Given America's, and Iowans', sports mania, the news that UI basketball coach Steve Alford is leaving for New Mexico is all over the states' papers this morning. (E.g., Susan Harman, "Done Deal; Alford Resigns to Take New Mexico Job; Lobos Set to Make Announcement Today," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 23, 2007, p. 1A. While not the result of a "vote" of any kind, as the Press-Citizen's editorial points out, "Over the years . . . it has become readily apparent that Iowa has been as terrible a fit for Alford as it has been a perfect fit for Ferentz." Editorial, "Move to UNM Good for UI, Good for Alford," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 23, 2007, p. 13A. The unilateral decision by a UI Athletic Director as to who will be the University's basketball coach is a pretty far cry from a "democratic election." And yet, even in that context, it is those who live in the community whose emerging consensus regarding coaches determines who does, and does not, "fit" here.

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I'll have to remember to bookmark this blog entry and re-read it from time to time when things aren't going as well as I'd hoped. The fact is, democracy really is a precious and valuable thing, something worth extending throughout all our institutions, well beyond conventional "Politics." And in spite of all its faults, and the reluctance of many of Americans to truly embrace it (consider the current opposition to same-day voter registration), it's working pretty well for us. There are examples everywhere in a civic society, if only we will take note and appreciate.

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UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.

# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .

These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.

Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)

For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.

My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.

Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]

# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
_______________

UI Held Hostage Day 424 - March 21 UICCU

March 21, 7:30 a.m.

[Note: See below for UICCU Chair Dean Borg's response to yesterday's "Open Letter;" my response to a couple readers' critical comments about the "Open Letter;" and Jeff Cox' statement regarding this evening's meeting and his nomination of Caroline Dieterle as a Board member.]

"Open Letter": Confirmation from World Council of Credit Unions
Every once in awhile I have the delightful experience of discovering that some idea that I have come to instinctively turns out to be virtually identical to the position of those who really are experts on the subject. This has been one of those occasions. (Of course, my more common experience is the discovery that my instinct turns out to be closer to what Stephen Colbert calls "truthiness.")

Yesterday this blog's entry was an "Open Letter to UICCU Board" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 423 - March 20 - UICCU," March 20, 2007.

I advocated, among other things, that we -- Board and membership -- continue to explore the issues of member participation in governance, the "process" questions that seemed to lie at the heart of the "Optiva" controversy and that were resolved in a membership revolt the evening of February 28. I identified three categories of focus: "Board Elections and Membership Meetings," "Ongoing Membership Involvement," and "Membership Outreach and Marketing."

I contrasted our relatively closed process for electing (or re-electing) board members with the much more welcoming and open process of our next door neighbor, the Linn Area Credit Union. I suggested ways we might have more rotation among board members.

Ongoing involvement of members could be encouraged by holding open, rather than closed, board meetings, and publishing on the Web (rather than keeping secret) the minutes of those meetings. I mentioned the possibility of members' committees, online discussion groups and polling of members before controversial board decisions, and creating an ombudsperson position.

Under membership outreach and marketing I mentioned counseling and classes on financial management, videos on public access television and DVDs, social events, "friends inviting friends," and advertising the fact that credit union membership is open to all.

Late in the day, only after I'd written all this, off the top of my head, in a relatively short time, drawing on nothing but what seemed to me to be common sense and my own experience with organizations and boards over the years, I came upon the Web site of the "World Council of Credit Unions" -- http://www.woccu.org -- and its basic confirmation of virtually everything I'd said earlier in the day.

It's true that there are "credit unions in 92 countries [serving] more than 157 million people." But lest an organization representing them sound a little too other worldly for applicability in Iowa, let me reassure you that one of the organization's two main offices is right next door, in Madison, Wisconsin. (The other is in Washington, D.C.)

As you might imagine, the organization provides a range of services for credit unions. (Its Web site has headings, or drop-down menus, for "News," "Development," "Advocacy," "Events and Education," "Development Finance," "Best Practices," and "Publications.")

One of its areas of focus is "governance." See, for example, the publication from which I will be quoting: Karen Cak Niederkohr and John Ikeda, "Credit Union Governance," World Council of Credit Unions White Paper (2005).

In part, credit union governance involves many of the same models and principles of any system of board governance. I worked to apply the John Carver model of board governance for the School Board of the Iowa City Community School District, and have described the Carver theory and the School Board's application of it in Nicholas Johnson, "Board Governance: Theory and Practice" (2001) . It includes setting measurable goals (Carver's "ends policies"), and articulating the relationships between the board and CEO, among other things. And the authors of the World Council white paper were obviously familiar with Carver.

But, as they acknowledge, credit unions and their boards are not like other organizations. Their "customers" are "members" and "owners" of what Congress has described as "democratically operated organizations." That necessarily affects "best practices" when it comes to board-member relations -- which was the focus of my "open letter."

What follows are some of the more relevant quotes from the World Council's "Credit Union Governance" paper.

I keep emphasizing democratic control of credit unions by members. The World Council says, "[C]redit unions are democratic institutions, where a single member receives a single vote, regardless of financial stake in the organization."

* * *

I commented on the extent to which there was inadequate communication from the Board and CEO to the membership, and proposed that there be more member access to Board meetings and minutes. The World Council has a good deal to say about this:

"Transparency

"Transparency requires the actions of the board of directors to be visible to the credit union members . . .. To be transparent, credit unions should commit to regular honest communication of their activities . . . in the spirit of full disclosure.

* * *

"The board and management of the credit union should engage in regular, honest communication to explain the actions of the organization to anyone who may be affected by them. This disclosure should include the objectives of the credit union . . .. By ensuring that its decisions are made in the light of day, members have the ability to oversee the actions of the board that represents them.

* * *

"The board or management should then convey the disclosure through communication methods, including but not limited to member meetings, postings, online interaction or newsletters. The communication must occur at regular intervals to members and must provide honest, unvarnished facts.

* * *

"[C]redit unions should make available to members and the public financial statements that are . . . provided in a timely manner to . . . especially credit union members. [p. 3]

* * *

I noted the advantages to the credit union of something in the nature of term limits and rotation in membership on the board, and that the UICCU might seek to emulate the more welcoming and open board election process of the Linn Area Credit Union. The World Council says,

"Structure

"World Council recommends the board be composed of an odd number of members, no less than five and no greater than nine. The purpose of this structure is to prevent tied votes. . . . [M]ore than nine members may make consensus achieving difficult and may increase logistical problems.

"World Council recommends that consideration should be given to the rotation of directors. A rotation approach can encourage fresh viewpoints to enter the boardroom without the potential loss of organizational knowledge. . . .

"[I]nterested credit union members . . . should be allowed to stand for the nominating process. . . . [T]he democratic nature of credit unions requires that general members be allowed . . . on the board. The opening of the process to general members helps regulate the power of the board . . ..

I also noted the UICCU's failure to provide individual members notice of the Wednesday night membership meeting. The World Council says,

"The annual general meeting . . . should be adequately promoted to ensure sufficient member participation. This meeting is the backbone of the internal governance system and is the highest decision making body in the credit union. By providing a forum for . . . members to interact with the board, the annual general meeting of members serves as a check on the power of the board and management. However, the meeting cannot provide this check if members are not aware of it.

"The annual general meeting should also be an opportunity for the directors to receive feedback and guidance from their fellow members. The board should encourage dialogue with general members at the annual general meeting, because it is the ultimate duty of the board to represent the wishes of the . . . members." [p. 5]

* * *

There are other comments in the World Council report I thought worth repeating:

"Balance

"Unlike for-profit institutions, credit unions should strive for a board that responds to the demands of the general membership. By creating a board in this manner, members are more likely to feel that they have a voice on the board and are more likely to feel a stronger connection with the credit union. As a result, a greater likelihood exists that members will continue their membership with the credit union.

"The composition of the board should aim to reflect the demographic makeup of its members . . .. By creating a board that reflects the age, gender and ethnic background of the credit union, the desires of the [members] can more easily be developed by directors.

* * *

"Accountability

"[T]he board, first and foremost, has a duty to the [members]. As the ultimate owners of the credit union, the members . . . delegate the board directors to function on their behalf. The [members] then [have] the ability to question the actions of the board and to hold the board accountable. . . .

"[T]he board must . . . follow up with management regularly to chart its progress against predefined measures of success. . . . Since both the board of directors and credit union management are held accountable . . . the ultimate goal of serving the members becomes obtainable. [p. 7]

* * *

"To fully understand and complete their responsibilities, individual [board] members should have . . . a member-focused viewpoint. [p. 9]

_______________
Now the mere fact that the World Council advocates many of the same things I was writing about yesterday does not mean that either of us is correct. Hopefully, however, this level of agreement may at least be taken as some evidence that I am not advocating some radical, bonkers, off-the-wall set of proposals that no one who knows anything about credit unions would ever try to advance.
_______________
For the record, and in fairness to the Board, here is the response Board Chair Dean Borg promptly provided by email to my "Open Letter" yesterday. I think it speaks for itself without comment from me:

"I greatly appreciate the time and thought you have given to the document you provided to us.

"I also greatly value your compliments for the Board's overall intent and pursuit of excellence, without ulterior motives. You are correct in intimating that this is a highly motivated, very hardworking group of women and men representing a cross-section of the greater Iowa City community.

"We are actively--and currently--pursuing use of absentee balloting, although the Iowa Code does specify restrictions with which we must comply. This is not the first time we have explored the absentee option.

"Your suggestion about involving members in social events is a part of our culture and practice. Our Prime Club members meet regularly, and social events are structured for that age group.

"Even our annual meeting is historically a social event, with entertainment, gifts for all members, and valuable door prizes. Many people attend the annual meeting just for the social component.

"Again, thanks Nick."
_______________
There were two essentially critical comments from readers attached to yesterday's blog entry from "John Barleykorn" and "Anonymous." They argue, basically, that (a) no one really cares about credit union management and "process," and (b) in effect, we can be grateful this is the case, as chaos would reign if various groups of members were actually permitted to micromanage the daily operation of the credit union in ways contrary to the best judgment of the Board (I am "arguing for mob rule of the credit union").

I can't really disagree with either point. I expressly noted that roughly half the electorate won't even bother to vote for president of the United States 18 months from now -- but that their disinterest is no reason to cancel the election for those who do take it seriously. And I suggest the same principle is applicable to what Congress has described as those "democratically operated organizations" called credit unions. ("Democracy within credit unions is not just a good idea, it's the law.") And as I have now discovered, the World Council of Credit Unions apparently agrees with me.

And, of course, I'm not advocating the straw man that "John Barleykorn" builds and then destroys. I can't imagine that anyone would advocate that. But I think anyone who reads through the World Council quotes, above, will see a consistent theme that seems to run through all of them regarding the responsibility of a board member of membership organizations in general, and credit unions in particular, to ascertain and then effectuate the desires of the membership.
_______________
Meanwhile, Jeff Cox issued the following statement yesterday regarding his proposed nomination of Caroline Dieterle for a UICCU Board position at the membership meeting this evening:

"The UICCU Credit Union annual members' meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 21, 7 p.m., at the Quality Inn & Suites Highlander Conference Center, 2525 N. Dodge Street. Credit Union Board members are elected at the membership meeting. The Credit Union Board's nominating committee has nominated three board incumbents for re-election to the three open positions. In the past, the board has from time to time nominated more candidates than positions in order to guarantee a contested election, but this year they have decided upon an uncontested election.

"Candidates can be nominated from the floor at the meeting, and I intend to nominate Caroline Dieterle. She has long experience as a member of the board of the New Pioneer Cooperative, which has grown to 16,000 members while maintaining, and even strengthening, its democratic character.

"I hope we can have some discussion at the Members' Meeting of the need for future Credit Union boards to promote (1) contested elections each year, (2) open and transparent board meetings, (3) mail ballots for board elections, and (4) credit union literature that lists among the "benefits of membership" the rights and obligations that members have to participate in a democratic, member-owned cooperative.

"I hope you can find time to attend the membership meeting, and vote for Caroline.

"jeffcox@inavia.net"
_____________
UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.

# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .

These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.

Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)

For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.

My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.

Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]

# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
_______________

UI Held Hostage Day 423 - March 20 - UICCU

March 20, 7:30 a.m., 9:20 a.m.

Open Letter to UICCU Board
March 20, 2007

Dean Borg, President
Karin Franklin
Jean Harney
Tom Lepic
Charles Mason
Charles McComas
Fred Mims
Kenneth Moore
Laura Reed
Duane Thompson

Dear UICCU Board Members:

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, March 21, is our membership meeting. Because the timing conflicts with my teaching schedule, I will be unable to attend. So I am taking this way of sharing my thoughts with you.

One of the things we all learned the evening of February 28, is that process matters -- in any institution, but especially a membership organization that is even described in federal law as a "democratically operated organization."

As we now look forward, not back, the question is: What more did we learn? What changes can we make to reduce the likelihood of future "February 28ths"? They may not be as expensive. They may not be as divisive. We cannot now predict what the issues will be. But what we can know, with as much certainty as we can know anything, is that -- especially for this credit union -- they will occur. It's not "whether," it's just "when."

Most of the time, in an "us" (UICCU board, CEO and employees) against "them" (groups of members) the "us" will win. I would guess the three of you running for re-election to what has become a self-perpetuating board will probably be re-elected tomorrow evening. (But then, I assumed the February 28 vote would sustain the "Optiva" choice, too.) The issue here is not about limits on your legal rights.

The issue involves Southwest Airlines' motto: "We hire for attitude and train for skills."

It is obvious from UICCU's financial numbers, and its national ranking among credit unions, that together you have the skills.

That's not the issue. The issue before us as an organization is not your skills, it's your attitude.

What is your attitude, and that of the CEO, regarding membership involvement in the governance of what Congress has called this "democratically operated organization"? Are you (a) bringing imagination and innovation to the search for every possible way to ascertain members' opinions and desires regarding the UICCU's policies and future direction and involve them in governance, (b) relatively oblivious to issues of credit union democracy, or (c) affirmatively hostile to members who seek information, participation, ask questions, hold opinions contrary to yours, and otherwise "meddle in, and make more difficult, what is after all your responsibility and 'none of their business'"?

To the extent you, too, would like to look to the future, and figure out ways to avoid continual replays of the February 28th experience, to the extent you would place yourself in category (a), above, here are some suggestions from one member as to how we might go about this evolution.

1. The process you use for addressing the "process question" will determine the richness and acceptability to the membership of the innovations you come up with.

In other words, this is not an issue for the board members to address in a closed "retreat" session.

Trust your membership. Be genuinely open to what members may come up with. This is an issue to be thrown open to the entire membership -- a group far more extensive than those few individuals able and inclined to come to a meeting at a fixed time and place.

For these reasons, I don't represent that my ideas, that follow, are "the answer." They are only one member's first draft, designed to help get the discussion started.

For convenience, I break the suggestions down into three categories: board elections and membership meetings; ongoing membership involvement; and what might be thought of as membership outreach and marketing.

2. Board elections and membership meetings.

(a) We have a relatively closed board election process in contrast, for example, with that followed by the Linn Area Credit Union. Linn encourages members to run for board positions and explains how they can do it, listing the CEO's phone number (something we still do not do). It makes it possible for members to vote throughout the day at any branch office. It sends a postcard to members, designed to get their attention, laying out all of this. Were I a member of Linn I could vote tomorrow. Because I am a member of UICCU I cannot (unless I am willing to "skip work"). Even if not true in fact, our process gives the impression that the board and CEO have deliberately created a process to exclude maximum possible membership participation while retaining their own tight control.

(While it is true that there can be nominations from the floor during the meeting this is obviously a far cry from the advantages held by board members who wish to be re-elected. There is no mechanism by which members can communicate with each other prior to a membership meeting. There is no member access to a membership list -- or even a procedure for sending email to a members' email list (without disclosing members' names or emails to the sender). There is no opportunity to include the names of board candidates in the Board/CEO postcard announcement of the meeting. Indeed, on this occasion there was no postcard announcement of the meeting.)

(b) "New blood" for the board. Every organization, no matter how successful, needs a bit of new blood, new thinking, new ideas from time to time. The same is true of our UICCU board. This is a complex issue. When I served on the national board of Common Cause I pointed out the irony in the organization's position: there was a two-term limit on national board members -- while the organization simultaneously opposed term limits for members of Congress! The UICCU has obviously benefited from the experience of its board members. But the average length of service is something over 10 years each. (Nine of the 10 bios on the Web site indicate length of service as 8, 30, 4, 6, 8, 1, 7, ?, 7, and 13 years. The "?" is for the one member for whom length of service is not indicated, although I have been (unreliably) informed it is 25 years.)

There would be a number of ways of addressing this (if the membership wanted to do so). (1) We could have a two- or three-term (6 or 9-year) limit. (2) When the terms of the three or four members are up, the one who has served the longest could be required to drop out, thereby creating an "open seat."

Either of those proposals, or others that might be thought of, would be preferable in my opinion to what may be in the works for tomorrow evening: a credit union member running against a board member or members. (The former reflects a board that is open to, and encouraging of, members participating as new board members. The latter perpetuates the divisiveness we're trying to get away from.)

3. Ongoing Membership Involvement.

However true it may be that most UICCU members do not care about the operations of their credit union so long as the ATMs work and the interest rates are favorable, that is not a reason for foreclosing the participation of those who do care.

Half of the eligible electorate don't bother to vote for president of the United States either, but that's not been thought a persuasive reason to call off the election.

It's the opportunity for participation, the perception that the Board and CEO wish to encourage (rather than discourage) participation, the sharing of information, the inclusion of interested members in the decision and governing process, the reality as well as the appearance of genuine democratic opportunity that is important.

If you, as a Board member, would like to do more in this direction, here are some suggestions.

(a) Open Board meetings, public records. Your present practice, as I understand it, is to exclude members from your board meetings, and to refuse to publish minutes of your meetings on your Web site. This is, presumably, your legal right; but none of this letter has been about legal rights and wrongs. It is about what is in the best interests of the Board, as well as the membership, of the UICCU in our effort to avoid future February 28ths.

Clearly, one of the major causes of the February 28th problems was what's called "a failure of communication." Suspicion, rumors and hostility grow like mold when stakeholders (of any organization) are kept in the dark. The disinfectant of sunshine works to the Board's advantage as much, or more, than it does for the members.

Regardless of what's done with opening the Board meetings, and publishing the Board meeting minutes, something must be done to communicate forthrightly to the membership the program and policy options being considered by the Board, with a candid and full disclosure of the pros and cons of each, and a meaningful opportunity for the members who care to be heard.

I would suggest you consider the ideas contained in the Iowa open meetings and public records acts (laws applicable to government agencies, but not credit unions) as your starting point in thinking through how you might loosen these restrictions. They start with the assumption that all meetings should be open, and all documents should be available to the media and public. But they go on to provide a long list of exceptions. Meetings can be closed, but the reason, the applicable exception, must be stated. I would assume that much, if not most, of what goes on in your Board meetings could be open to any interested members. Similarly with the minutes of your Board meetings, and with many of the reports and documents you and the CEO use. There would be good reason to keep some confidential; others could be made available to members.

(b) Advisory committee. A supplement, or perhaps even an alternative of sorts, to opening up the board nomination and election process would be the use of advisory committees to the Board, made up of those who would like to be heard on credit union issues. Properly conceived, this could be a real benefit to the Board.

(c) Online discussion groups and polling. There needs to be some way for the members who care to communicate with each other, and with the membership at large. The Press-Citizen (among other papers) includes in its letters to the editor and op ed columns some pretty tough (and sometimes unfair) criticism of the paper -- and thereby strengthens its credibility (and circulation). If it can do it, the credit union should have even less to fear from free speech.

Polling of members can be done online. There are technological ways of insuring that individual members only vote once. Estonia just conducted a nationwide presidential election with online voting. If a nation can do it, presumably a credit union can.

Suppose, for example, that there had been an online poll of UICCU members regarding the Optiva name change -- as I proposed to some of you and our CEO. Suppose only 10% of the membership actually bothered to express a view -- 4500 members. And, of them, suppose that 80% voted in favor of the Optiva name. I may be wrong, but my guess is that virtually all members -- including those opposed to the name -- would have accepted that result.

One of the underlying assumptions in the name change was that "growth is good," and that "we may want to expand into Illinois." That may or may not be right; I'm not expressing a view on that; "show me the data" and I can be persuaded. But it remains another major issue for which we need to have a substantial majority of the membership involved, informed, persuaded and on board or we're going down the conveyor belt into another February 28th buzz saw at some point.

An online discussion -- pro and con -- followed by a polling of the membership could help avoid that preventable disaster.

(d) Ombudsperson. Many organizations, not just government and universities, have a designated ombudsperson. This is, ideally, a truly independent person who is perceived as trustworthy and neither hired nor subject to being fired by management. The ombuds is someone to whom various stakeholders (customers, students, employees) can go to present a grievance (or suggestion) anonymously -- thereby avoiding the intimidation of having to present it to a supervisor who at best may be provoked to recrimination and at worst may actually be the subject of the complaint. It is the job of the ombuds to try to resolve the problem while protecting, insofar as possible, the complainant.

At the present time, anyone who has a problem with a credit union practice or a decision of the credit union's CEO has nowhere to go but to the CEO who made the decision and, like any human, is disinclined to confess error or change policy.

4. Membership Outreach and Marketing

Don't discount the possibility that members might be able to come up with some useful ideas for building membership, marketing the credit union -- and in the process creating greater membership involvement.

Like most brainstorming, probably 90% of the ideas won't prove out. But that's the process. Here are some for starters:

Counseling and classes. The UICCU used to have financial counselors. It was a great selling point. It's a niche that is not (perhaps deliberately not) being fulfilled by the commercial banks that profit from customers' overloaded credit cards, high interest rates, and ATM charges. It's something we could do with free classes for members, one-on-one counseling, and presentations in the local junior highs and high schools.

PATV and DVDs. "Person-in-the-street" interview clips of UICCU members talking about the credit union's features could be incorporated in online and public access cable videos providing financial advice. A DVD incorporating some of this material could be provided as a recruiting item, or provided members. And of course all of this can be streamed online.

Social events. I don't know whether it would work with the UICCU, but other credit unions have picnics and other social events. The Linn Area Credit Union, mentioned above, has a dinner at its annual membership meeting.

Friends inviting friends. One of the advantages of social events is that they can be an opportunity for members to bring non-member friends to the event. But it doesn't have to require a social event. "Friends inviting friends" to UICCU membership could be tied in with some kind of financial or other reward for finding new members.

Tag line. During the February 28 meeting someone mentioned that membership of the UICCU actually grew during the months the possibility of its name change was under consideration because, went the speculation, more people became aware of the fact that UI association was not required for membership. To this, someone else responded, in effect, if that's the case, why not a one-liner in marketing and advertising mentioning this fact? Why not? "UICCU -- It's for everyone." Or, "UICCU -- It's all Iowans' first choice." Maybe ask the membership for better suggestions?

Thank you for your volunteer service over the years. I would welcome your response to my letter. What is your attitude? What do you think of the ideas I've outlined? Are you interested in working further with me and others in making the UICCU not only one of the most financially successful credit unions in the United States, but the lighthouse beacon example of the most "democratically operated organization" in the country as well?

Respectfully,



Nicholas Johnson
_____________
UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.

# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .

These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.

Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)

For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.

My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.

Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]

# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
_______________

UI Held Hostage Day 422 - March 19

March 19, 6:30 a.m.

For those who took off spring break, and would like to catch up with the past week's entries in this blog, here are some summaries/index listings and links:

Friday, March 9. "UI Held Hostage Day 412"
"Iowa City: A Writing Community"

Sunday, March 11. "UI Held Hostage Day 414"
"Fair Share"
"Drug Courts"
"John Colloton"
"UI, Athletics and Gambling Partnerships"
"UICCU ('Optiva')" [results of research on who sent letters to editor]

Monday, March 12. "UI Held Hostage Day 415"
"Economic Development" [Letter: "Iowa Vales Fund: Audit Shows a Scandal"]
"The University of Iowa's Gambling Addiction" [Gazette editorial on gambling problems]

Tuesday, March 13. "UI Held Hostage Day 416"
"In Praise of a Credit Union" [Linn Area Credit Union's board election process]
"Gambling Casinos Expanding"
"Drug Courts"
"Mary Gilchrist's Court"

Wednesday, March 14. "UI Held Hostage Day 417"
"UI Problem with 'UICCU'? Oh, 'Never Mind'" [Regents approve UICCU on UI campus]
"Corporate Welfare, 'Good;' Welfare for the Downtrodden, 'Bad'" [Beth Cody column]
"The Search for a UI President . . . and Four Regents" [impact of Gartner on Search]
"College Athletics Budgets as 'Investments'" [study shows college athletics programs don't pay]

Thursday, March 15. "UI Held Hostage Day 418"
"Four Regents Nominated"

Friday, March 16. "UI Held Hostage Day 419"
"Iowa's Disadvantages Not Eliminated by 'Advantage Fund'" ["Want to know how to keep graduates in Iowa? 'Pay more.'"]

Saturday, March 17. "UI Held Hostage Day 420"
"Governor Chet Culver: The $8.2 Million Dollar Man" [appointees' campaign contributions]
"Hope for the Future?" [will four new Regents make a difference?]
"Regents' Advice to Search Committee" [Regent wants "exactly the right person"; legislators and Search Committee II]
"Qualifications for UI President" [a repeat from last November]

______________
UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.

# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .

These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.

Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)

For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.

My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.

Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]

# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
_______________

UI Held Hostage Day 420 - March 17

March 17, 9:40 a.m.

Lots of items this morning about the Regents and Search Committee II -- and a reprint of my own views regarding the "Qualifications for UI President."

Governor Chet Culver: The $8.2 Million Dollar Man
Turns out two of Culver's appointees to the Regents were the largest donors to his campaign among the 180 appointees the governor just announced. Bonnie Campbell and David Miles, plus their spouses, gave a total of $62,500 -- roughly equivalent to the combined contributions of more than 100 other generous appointees. Lee Rood, "Two regents picks are big donors to Culver; Campbell, Miles, spouses gave at least $62,500 to governor's campaign," Des Moines Register, March 17, 2007.

In fairness, there's no suggestion both are not well qualified for the position or that -- like some presidential appointments of ambassadors -- their contributions, qua contributions, played a disproportionate role in their selection.

Campbell's abilities have been widely recognized nationally (Washington official; in 1997 one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans) as well as within Iowa (Attorney General; candidate for governor), her ties to the Culver family go way back, and she may very well end up as president of the Board of Regents once Gartner's term runs out in 2008.

Rood notes that Miles "has served 11 years on the Drake University Board of Governors, three as chairman." That may actually make him the Regent with the most experience with university governance.

(Of course, it's conceivable that it might also create a modest conflict of interest of sorts on some issues (in which "what's good for General Motors is good for the country" isn't applicable; that is, what serves the welfare of the Regents' universities is not always going to be in the best interests of Drake). But I can't off hand think of what those issues would be, and they would in any event be minimized if he were to resign from the Drake board.)

Far more significant is Rood's report that total contributions to Culver were $8.2 million. For a job that pays little more than $100,000 a year, Culver would need to stay in office until he had his 123rd birthday to earn that much.

We have laws about open meetings and public records ostensibly because we recognize the need in a democracy for public confidence in the processes of government. As the online comments to Rood's story indicate, political contributions in the millions are doing more to undermine public confidence in government than an executive session of a small Iowa school district's school board ever could. We're not talking here about actual corruption; let's assume there's none. We're talking about appearances.

Public financing of campaigns is reportedly working in Arizona and Maine. Why should Iowa have to wait until there are 25 states doing it before we feel comfortable joining this movement? Until we do money is going to continue to flow to our state legislators and other elected officials, and that flow will continue to increasingly erode public confidence in our government like the rains of decades past used to erode our top soil. Like lost top soil, once that confidence is totally gone it will take generations, if ever, to rebuild.

Hope for the Future?
The Register and Press-Citzen both hold out hope for the new Board of Regents. The Register's editorial begins, "Given the mess the Board of Regents made in trying to hire a new University of Iowa President . . ." and concludes, "If the board [conducts the public's business with openness], there's no reason it can't steady itself and nurture further excellence at the universities - and Iowans' pride in their schools." Editorial, "A Fresh Start for Regents," Des Moines Register, March 17, 2007.

The Press-Citizen is a little less optimistic: "the public needs to be able to trust that the individual members [of the Board of Regents] are willing to listen to those with . . . firsthand knowledge. Right now, because that trust is nonexistent, new regents can expect no honeymoon period. With UI in the midst of its second presidential search process and with Gartner continuing to act as a lightning rod for criticism, they will have to rebuild that trust immediately from the ground up. Local officials are optimistic that these four are the right people for the job. We can only hope they're right." Editorial, "No Honeymoon Period for Any New Regents," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 17, 2007.

Regents' Advice to Search Committee
Meanwhile, the Regents have been invited to share ideas with Search Committee II, and they have some.

The Press-Citizen's Brian Morelli reports that Jack Evans, Hall-Perrine Foundation president, and new Regent nominee, offered the Committee this advice: "What I am looking for is exactly what the search committee is looking for and that is exactly the right person." Sounds like he's on board.

David Miles thinks what we should be looking for is "sound judgment and leadership qualities, someone who has desire to connect with Iowa."

Farm Bureau President Craig Lang decided what he wanted was to get out of the country, and he has flown off to places unknown.

Actually, Bonnie Campbell seemed to make the most sense. Search Committee I's finalists were rejected by Michael Gartner and his supporters on the Board because of their lack of health sciences administration experience. Campbell "said there isn't one mold the candidate must fit into. She wants to use the candidates' experience to decide, for example, if they have good judgment, if they are a good leader and if they are a good manager. . . 'We are going to get people with different skills that are more important than one particular part of their background,' Campbell said. "It's [a health science background] definitely on the plus side, [but] [t]hat is one of many professional experiences.'" Brian Morelli, "Regent candidates ready to join presidential search; But 4 appointees wait to offer more than general opinion on process," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 17, 2007.

Morelli also has a story about Search Committee II's meeting yesterday. There are over 100 possibles who need to be contacted and vetted, and Committee members are dividing up the tasks. Chair David Johnsen has invited the new Regents to provide input, and anticipates meeting with them after they have been approved by the Iowa Senate, sometime before April 15. Brian Morelli, "Committee Wants Input From New Regents," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 17, 2007.

Morelli adds: "Johnsen also said that UI's state government liaison Mark Braun was arranging for legislators to attend the next search committee meeting to give input on the search. Johnsen did not know who or how many legislators will be attending." See also, Erin Jordan, "Lawmakers, UI Prez Search Committee to Meet," Des Moines Register, March 16, 2007.

That strikes me as a little problematical. The governor nominates Regents; the Senate confirms them; the Regents oversee the University; the University has been tasked with providing finalists to the Regents from which the Regents are to pick the next UI president; the University has handed that responsibility over to Search Committee II.

On the one hand, the more direct contact legislators can have with the Regents' institutions the better -- if one believes, as I do, that the universities are impressive institutions that can not only withstand, but benefit from, more widespread knowledge and appreciation of their contributions to the state.

On the other hand, as a matter of governance, it is bad enough when Michael Gartner wants to reach down and conduct his own investigation of an IT breach at the hospital. But one of the main reasons for having a Board of Regents in the first place is to prevent this kind of intervention in the universities by legislators. Do we really want legislators directly involved in a University committee?

Worst case, what if the invited legislators take the invitation seriously, get involved in the search process, have nominees of their own, preferences among those under consideration, or qualities they believe essential in a UI president? And what if their desires happen not to coincide with the process of Search Committee II -- or the ultimate presidential choice of the Regents? What then?

Just a thought.

Qualifications for UI President
Since everyone else seems to be offering their view of the qualifications for a UI President, and given my relative praise of Bonnie Campbell's view of the matter, above, this might be a good time to repeat this excerpt from my take on it from last November, Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2007:


4. What are the necessary qualifications for UI's president? My take on educational administrative qualifications is different from what is suggested by Michael Gartner's statement.

Southwest Airlines CEO Colleen Barrett has said, "We tend to hire for attitude and train for skills -- —but don't get nervous, we don't hire pilots who can't fly a plane."

With all respect, from my perspective I think that's not a bad starting point in what we might look for in selecting a university president -- an individual with the necessary basics, capable of being a "quick study," who "plays well with others," and knows how to fly the plane.

The experience upon which I draw in the paragraphs that follow includes managing a multi-billion-dollar agency, being in effect a "board member" of another with perhaps 100 times that impact on the American economy, service on a number of boards, and once being identified by Newsweek as one of the top four candidates for university presidencies throughout the country (and, no, I neither applied, nor was considered, for the UI position). (For details see the long form bio.)

In the course of my career I have had to learn enough about nearly a dozen different industries to carry out my obligations responsibly and effectively. In my experience, and that of other CEOs with far more experience than I with whom I've visited over the years, that's been true for others as well.

The primary qualifications for the CEO's job are not years of experience in that agency or industry, or a mastery of every aspect of the business -- as a casual look at the bios of the Fortune 500 CEOs will attest. In fact, what's often needed is precisely the opposite: someone who doesn't think he or she knows all the answers; someone who will ask the naive questions, and then realize that because there is a lot they need to learn they best listen very carefully to the answers; someone who has a "fresh approach" and is able to "think outside the box."

What is most needed is Southwest's "attitude": a "quick study" with above average intelligence, yes, but not so far above average that arrogance impedes both positive inter-personal relations with, and respect for, everyone in the shop, and a willingness to put in the hours necessary with those individuals to truly appreciate what the institution does and why.

Similarly, since the Sixth Century, B.C., the most effective leaders have followed Lao Tsu's advice (in Tao Te Ching): put ego on hold, encourage genuine stakeholder participation and direction, such that, to the extent the leader's initial ideas are embodied in policy and action, "The people say, 'See, we did it ourselves.'"** (Sadly, this has been one bit of ancient wisdom the Regents have all too often failed to heed.)

There is both a substantive and a superficial element in "past experience."

Superficially, the staff of large organizations often like to see their CEO chosen from "one of their own," whether a scholar as head of an educational institution or a Foreign Service officer as an ambassador. It increases the comfort level of those whose professional and personal lives could be significantly affected by this new stranger chosen to lead them. This is not a trivial factor, but it doesn't go to, and is certainly no guarantee of, even competence, let alone outstanding leadership.

Clearly among David Skorton's charm and many intellectual and other strengths, his ability to function as a member of the faculties of medicine, engineering and computer science, while playing saxophone and flute, hosting a radio program about jazz, and demonstrating a capacity to have been a professional stand-up comic, helped his rapport with all.

But to insist that candidates as university president have had experience as "leaders who oversaw complex health sciences operations," along with, presumably, comparable amounts of experience overseeing every other aspect of something as wide-ranging as the programs of the University of Iowa is (1) to hope for someone who never was and never will be, and, fortunately, is also (2) unnecessary, and (3) undesirable.

It is not the president's job (nor the Regents, if I may say so) to micromanage every program and function of the University of Iowa. (Nor could he or she do it if it were.) They need enough of a management information reporting system in place to tell them what they need to know about what's going on and to head off disasters, but their primary job is to get the best qualified people they can find to do the jobs that need to be done, enable them to work together cooperatively when necessary, and then leave them alone.

The UI has recently announced an expansion of its offering of foreign languages. In this global age it would be a plus for a university's president to be able, like the former Pope, to speak 15 languages. But since he or she is unlikely to find it necessary to teach those classes, the even bigger plus would be a president who initiates the processes, and maintains an environment, in which qualified foreign language professors are found, respected, encouraged, supported -- and retained.

Some leaders want to be surrounded with supporting staff and administrators who are demonstrably less able than themselves. Others want "the best and the brightest." It is the latter who are both most effective in their day-to-day accomplishments and subsequently the most favorably regarded with the hindsight of history.

Of course we want a highly qualified administrator of our health sciences complex, just as, if we are going to have a football program, it is useful to have one of the nation's most highly regarded (and paid) college football coaches.

But that doesn't mean we need, or want, a university president who can micromanage one of the nation's largest and most prestigiousus medical colleges and hospitals, any more than we need or want a president qualified to, and who does, tell the football coach what plays to call on Saturday afternoon.

What we do need is a president who is relaxed and comfortable working with a health sciences administrator, football coach, and others who are demonstrably more qualified to do their jobs than the president is to do their jobs, and to whom he or she can responsibly delegate that authority with confidence.

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** There are many translations of, and sources for, "The Book of Tao." The quoted passage is from chapter 17. Here is one of many sources that translates it,

"The best leaders value their words, and use them sparingly.
When she has accomplished her task,
the people say, 'Amazing:
we did it, all by ourselves!'"______________
UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.

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[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .

These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.

Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)

For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.

My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.

Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]

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Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
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Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
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