Alabama A&M's Board of Trustees are creating a Liability

February 22, 2008

NewsChannel 19's Barry Hiett reports:

Alabama A&M's Board of Trustees has voted to strip the school's president of a great deal of power.

Friday afternoon, the board voted eight to three in favor of removing much of Dr. Robert Jennings' authority.

Effective immediately, if Jennings wants to sign off on a contract or loan for the university, he has to get the board's approval. Hirings and firings must also go through the board. If Dr. Jennings wants to apply for bond money for the school, he must go through the board before he can sign the deal.

"This is not micro-managing," said board member Shefton Riggins, who voted in favor of the power strip. "Micro-managing means we're going to come in and run this place from day to day."

Riggins says the main reason board members adopted this resolution is because declining enrollment means less money for the University.

Board member Thomas Beason voted against the move.

"The thing that bothered me most is no action can be taken against any employee," said Beason. "That could mean a reprimand or asking them to go do something else or someone who does something critical and be reprimanded immediately. Everything now has to go to a committee."

NewsChannel 19 tried to get a comment from Dr. Jennings after the meeting, but he quickly left.

Now, board members must watch the budget with eagle eyes.

"What we want to do is better understand the financial state of this university," Riggins said.

Beason counters, that he thinks this vote makes it extremely tough for Jennings to do his job.

"Oh, absolutely," Beason said. "He can't hire anybody, he can't fire anybody, he can't reprimand."

He can, but he'll have to clear it through a committee first.