picnic anyone?

The Independent Collegian has reported:"[T]he dean is acting through the president and provost on the policy of the board according to BOT Chairman, Richard B. Stansley." The same article suggested that the board members were surprised and uninformed about the sudden and unprecedented grassroots opposition by concerned faculty and students; for example, against the hastily contrived details of the board policy ("New Entity" and such) as these have been showcased in surreal public forums. Since the board policy is vague in almost all of its details, the potential collateral damage in these details to the university and college mission should quickly and emphatically be made known to each of the members of the board through their personal interactions with concerned faculty and students. I suggest a picnic hosted by A&S Council: an informational meeting where BOT members can discuss their hopes and plans with those in opposition to further insensitivity and mismanagement by executives responsible for the detailed design and implementation of BOT policy. Excellence above all in our educational endeavors is what most of us A&S faculty want to achieve. This is not so difficult if faculty serving in a rich diversity of complementary departments have high morale. Many students recognize that excellence in public higher education is corrupted by an administration that promotes false efficiencies and naked ambitions. Perhaps the BOT might even consider basic revisions of their policy to institute what is from moral and ethical perspectives both best and right for UT, its faculty and its students. Individual Members of the BOT are profiled at the following website, where they can be contacted:

http://www.utoledo.edu/offices/trustees/member_list.html

Please contact them and introduce yourself and the significance of your urgent message. Invite them to the picnic. Many of those key administrators that the BOT Members might be swiftly reining in during this current time of crisis are in China, far and conveniently away from the fray. So it’s up to you, and now. The Members of the UT Board of Trustees are:

Richard B. Stansley, Chair
David G. Huey, Vice Chair
Carroll L. Ashley, Board Secretary
Steven Reginald Barker, Student Trustee
Thomas E. Brady
George E. Chapman
C. William Fall
Susan E. Gilmore
Marvin K. Himmelein
S. Arjad Hussain
William C. Koester
Kristen Kunklier, Student Trustee
Richard B McQuade, Jr.
Susan Farrell Palmer
Olivia K. Summons
John S. Szuch
Cynthia B. Thompson
Hernan A. Vasquez