FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
@FreeCooperUnion #TwoWeeksOfLeaks, Day 9: A Sense of Betrayal
Today’s leak is a report by consulting firm The Whelan Group that was presented at the March 2012 Board meeting. In January of 2012 the Board authorized an unbudgeted expense of $63,000 over five months for The Whelan Group’s services, “to build capacity to lead the institution effectively through a period of financial challenges and organizational change. The Whelan Group conducted confidential one-on-one interviews with nearly the entire Board of Trustees and many members of the senior administrative staff.
The Whelan Group’s reportback on these anonymous interviews speaks volumes on the Board and Administration’s dysfunctionality:
“Almost universally, Board members recognize that there is an issue of ‘community’ confidence in the Board related to fundamental policy and financial decisions that were made during the tenure of the previous administration.”
“There is deep criticism [amongst Board members] of a lack of transparency on the part of the previous administration [of George Campbell] — and a broadly held feeling that the Board was shielded from information that they needed to make informed decisions — especially about the development of the new building and related fundraising campaign.”
“There is strong recognition that, as the school’s financial realities became clear the board was not fully prepared to address the challenges in a fully strategic way.”
“Most interviewees referred to the time when dissent on the Board was decidedly unwelcome.”
The Whelan Group’s recommendations are so obvious that it’s hard to believe they took five months to formulate and cost over $60,000 of the college’s money:
“The first step in resolving any problem is to acknowledge that there is a problem”
“A change in Board culture, practice and membership is in order.”
“The Cooper Union would be well served by reviewing the engagement of each and every Board member…strategic additions are needed to marshal the resources (intellectual, political, social and financial capital) needed going forward.”
“Many agreed that a clear vision for the future will put the Board in a better position to make tough decisions designed to enhance the ability of the President pursue and achieve a pre-determined vision.”
For the past two years, the community has been offering similar recommendations to the board gratis, and demanded changes far more actionable than The Whelan Group’s vague bullet points: from student and faculty trustees to open meeting minutes. But from the way that things have progressed since 2012, it’s clear that Cooper’s board is taking nobody’s advice. Free Cooper Union is past the point of reconciling with disengaged, wasteful, obstinate trustees, who continue to absolve and validate their presence by spending hundreds-of-thousands of dollars on what is nothing more than a talking cure.
[Full document on Free Cooper Union Facebook]
Free Cooper Union presents #TwoWeeksOfLeaks
Free Cooper Union has received a collection of anonymously leaked confidential documents pertaining to The Cooper Union’s Board of Trustees and the Administration of Jamshed Bharucha. For the next two weeks we will be releasing one document per day to our press contacts. Bharucha and the college’s trustees have claimed to run a transparent and accountable administration, yet the community has unilaterally been barred from participation in decision-making and access to financial and organizational information. On November 11th, the Board prematurely cancelled the election of a student representative because the process adopted by students was too democratic. Transparency without accountability means nothing, and Cooper’s Board has demonstrated that they are accountable to no one.
In addition to documents queued for release in the next two weeks, Free Cooper Union is calling for additional leaks pertaining to the mismanagement perpetrated by Cooper Union’s past and present Board and Administration. Information may be emailed to cooperunionsos@gmail.com or sent to our voicemail at 917-746-5634.
In celebration of open flows of information, on November 24th from 6 to 9pm, students will be performing a second reading of the Board transcript leaked this summer by the Village Voice at e-flux, 311 East Broadway, New York.