More thoughts on MSSU Board of Governors

I overlooked an interesting post on the Show-Me Opinions blog, which offers some thoughts on just what it is that a Board of Governors does.

The post refers to the revelation in the Joplin Globe that Missouri Southern State University President Dr. Bruce Speck decided on his own to eliminate the Child Development Center and men's soccer programs, with the board having nothing to do with his decision:

So, the Board doesn't have any control on the direction of the University? That is what it sounds like to me. Either that or they just aren't wanting to be associated with the decisions being made by Dr. Speck. Of course, could you blame them?

While I have no problem with hiring someone to make the decisions, decisions that involve the welfare of students and the livelihoods of employees should at least be discussed by the board in open session just in case the president, especially someone who is so new to this area, has put the university on the wrong path.

Of course, the Southern Watch blog and some commenters on the Joplin Globe website have noted the statement that the elimination of the soccer team is not saving any money at all, but simply transferring it somewhere else in the athletic budget.

It's time for Dr. Speck or Board President Dwight Douglas to tell us what was so important in the athletic budget that it required the elimination of a long-standing university sport.