By Shelby Brown–

The ad hoc committee on board governance set a deadline to review U of L’s conflict of interest policies. The committee will revisit the current policies and procedures, effective since 2011, July 24. Committee chair Bonita Black said the goal is to get a “fresh look” and develop a new process for vetting conflicts of interest.

“We really want to be watchdogs,” Black said.

Black said chairmen will be asked to give a confidentiality statement at the beginning of the next board of trustees meeting, July 2o.

“We appreciate very much if people recuse themselves from situations where they might have a potential or even an a appearance of a conflict,” she said.

In SACS’ most recent letter to U of L, their investigation expanded to include conflicts of interest. The university is up to nine possible violations. Currently, Interim President Greg Postel is collecting conflict of interest forms from trustees, university officers and interim officials.

“The progress that we’re trying to make here, I would love for us to be in a position to share that with SACS  in August as well,” Black said. “I think it shows our oversight, our commitment to transparency and openness and creating an environment of best practices around conflict of interest.”


Board of Trustees Nomination Slate

With no changes to the roster so far, the committee passed the Board of Trustee nomination slate for 2017-18.

During the meeting, Professor Enid Trucios-Haynes, accepted her nomination via video call. According to assistant secretary Jake Beamer, if the other five want to stay in their roles, Black will present the slate to the full board July 20.

The current officers are:

  • David Grissom, Chair
  • John Schnatter, Vice Chair
  • Diane Medley, Treasurer
  • Brian Cromer, Secretary
  • Nitin Sahney, At-Large Member elected to Executive Committee
  • Enid Trucios-Haynes, Faculty Constituency Representative on Executive Committee

Presidential Evaluation

The committee is planning an evaluation for both Postel and the eventual permanent president of U of L. The committee hopes to have Postel evaluated before Aug. 15, when documents are due to SACS.

The committee members have been assigned trustees to interview on Postel’s performance. The group have drawn reference from other universities, like UK, about the interview and evaluation process.

Trustees on the ad hoc are Black, James Rogers, Brian Cromer and Trucios-Haynes, faculty constituency representative. Each have been assigned two trustees, including Student Government Association President Vishnu Tirumala, who will serve as student constituency representative for 2017-18.

The deadline for interview completion is Aug. 2.