InsideHigherEd recently published a piece addressing severance packages offered to presidents by the institution’s governing boards.  In “Paid for Being Fired,” Kellie Woodhouse states:

“Severance packages are an oft-overlooked component of the increasingly sophisticated and complicated college executive compensation package. Yet as more and more governing boards seek to mirror the corporate world as they craft compensation agreements, severance packages may be on the rise at colleges and universities.

‘Severances are elements of retention packages that are very common in the corporate sector, so people on [governing] boards are very familiar with them,’ said Lucy A. Leske, managing partner of education practice at the executive search firm Witt/Kieffer. ‘Boards are becoming more professional in their approach, in how they recruit and obtain candidates. Severance is one of those key elements.”

This statement deserves greater emphasis:  …more and more governing boards seek to mirror the corporate world…

Could it be because the individuals appointed to these boards are imbedded in the corporate culture?  Typically, they are not academics, they are not scholars, they are not educators.  As the attacks on faculty (and organized faculty in particular) continue, where is the outrage over haphazard decisions such as those cited in Woodhouse’s article?  This goes far beyond “not really thinking through” the financial consequences for the institution.  Governing boards are engaging in a train of abuses that do a disservice to the students, to the faculty, and to the community at large.  The point is that decision making of this type is not limited to the private institution that dishes out thousands (if not millions) of dollars in unearned compensation.  Public institutions as well must suffer the consequences of corporate-minded individuals who sit on boards attempting to forge academic policies with which they are completely unfamiliar, some of which they deeply resent, and practices with which they have little or no understanding when it comes to a truly effective teaching and learning environment.  We as educators must shift the focus not only towards those who are appointed to the boards – but equally towards those who are doing the appointing!  Although it may have no real legal impact, a vote of no confidence is a powerful statement when it comes to the removal of a president who is deemed ineffective or incompetent, but when that vote includes the board of trustees – it speaks volumes (see the piece on Sweet Briar in the Washington Post).