Exercise 1D Strategic Planning for Your University: The purpose of this exercise
ID: 445590 • Letter: E
Question
Exercise 1D
Strategic Planning for Your University: The purpose of this exercise is to illustrate the process of identifying critical external and internal factors.
Please review this case study, which is outlined in the articles below. Due to the scandal in this case study, the university has been damaged in the publicly. You are the leaders of new board of trustees and must develop a strategy to address these issues. You will have to do research on the history of the American University in Washington DC, its mission, and its values. (20 points). Your assignment must be in APA format with an APA formatted cover page with the week and assignment number on it. You must also have a reference page and double spaced in 12 point type Your 3-4 page written plan should include:
1. What are 4 models, terms, or concepts in the text book that apply to this situation?
2. What leadership changes will your time put in place to ensure that a situation like this does not happen again?
3. How what steps will you use to communicate these changes to students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff, and the news media.
Case Part 1-
AU President’s Expenses Examined
Trustees Investigate Personal Charges After Getting Letter
By Valerie Strauss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 3, 2005; A09
American University’s governing body is investigating allegations that school President Benjamin Ladner inappropriately charged the university for personal and travel expenses, a source with firsthand knowledge of the probe said yesterday.
University officials said last week that the Board of Trustees was investigating the school’s finances. But on Monday, the board released a statement in an internal newsletter saying that the probe focused on “certain expenses in one department of the university” and that it was launched after several board members received an anonymous letter.
That letter was identified by the source yesterday as similar to one received last week by The Washington Post alleging broad expense account violations by Ladner and his wife, Nancy Bullard Ladner. The source said he could not be identified because it could compromise his role in the probe.
According to the letter received by The Post, the Ladners charged the university over the past five years for their son’s engagement party, presents for their children, a personal French chef, vacations in Europe, maintenance of their personal residence in Maryland “including garbage bags,” and wine up to $100 a bottle for lunch and dinner.
Ladner would not comment, said David E. Taylor, the president’s chief of staff. The more than half of the board reached by phone declined to comment. Leslie E. Bains, the new board chairman, did not return phone calls.
It was unclear when trustees received the letter, but the board recently retained the law firm Arnold & Porter LLP to review the expenses, according to Taylor and Monday’s statement in the newsletter. The lawyers then hired Protiviti, a risk management consulting group, to audit the records in consultation with the board’s audit committee.
“The review and any wrongdoing discovered will not affect the university’s strong financial position,” the newsletter said.
Ladner came to the 10,000-student university in Northwest Washington in 1994 after a period of turmoil at American, which had five leaders in less than five years. He has been credited with improving academic standards and increasing fundraising at the 85-acre campus but came under early criticism for hiring a personal chef and other spending issues.
According to Internal Revenue Service records, Ladner’s base salary was $633,000 for 2003-04. Ladner’s compensation does not include campus housing; he has lived on campus in a house purchased for him by the trustees. He also spent more than $200,000 for drainage work and landscaping.
Case-1 Part 2
American University president resigns following investigation
Oct. 26, 2005
The president of United Methodist-related American University in Washington has resigned following an investigation of his personal and travel expenses.
Benjamin Ladner, 63, president for the past 11 years, resigned Oct. 24 after an audit committee found that he and his wife allegedly spent more than $500,000 inappropriately in the past three years.
An anonymous letter to the board of trustees alleging concerns about Benjamin Ladner's travel and personal expenses prompted an independent audit into those items.
The trustees placed Ladner on administrative leave in August while the investigation was under way and named university Provost Cornelius Kerwin acting president. They decided Oct. 10 that Ladner would not return as president and that Kerwin would continue to fill that role until a permanent replacement could be found.
Kerwin told university alumni and parents that "while closure has been reached on the basic issue of the president," the trustees would examine issues related to governance. The trustees formed a committee that will recommend improvements in the governance process.
At subsequent board meetings, trustees reviewed the president's situation and hosted conversations with faculty, students, staff, alumni and academic leadership for comments.
Faculty in some of the university's academic disciplines had returned a no-confidence vote against the embattled president and called for his immediate resignation, stating that Ladner would be unable to provide the leadership needed to carry the institution through its current $200 million campaign. The campaign, called "A new AU," will raise funds for new facilities, scholarships, the endowment, new faculty chairs and professorships.
During the Oct. 10 meeting, the trustees also adopted the audit committee's findings. The investigation found that Ladner's alleged expenses included an engagement party for his son, trips for the couple's chef, drivers' costs and alcohol purchases.
The trustees' investigation caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice, which informed the counsel for the board of trustees and the university Oct. 4 that it had launched an investigation based on their inquiries.
The trustees authorized the university to seek reimbursement for certain personal expenses from Ladner. The board asked that he repay $125,000 for what were deemed inappropriately charged expenses and pay taxes on about $398,000 in income from 2002-2005.
Although his attorneys disagreed with the audit committee's findings and said Ladner's spending was consistent with his contract terms, Ladner offered to repay $21,000 to cover some questioned expenditures and to pay taxes on indirect income for the years the auditors examined.
Ladner resigned from the presidency and as a professor at the university Oct. 24, and he agreed to relinquish any claim to tenure or faculty appointment.
He was not available for comment Oct. 25 but in correspondence with the Washington Post said: "Nancy and I will always regard the opportunity we had to serve American University for 11 years as a great honor and privilege. We are especially grateful for the quiet but strong support expressed by so many friends, colleagues and students."
In an Oct. 24 statement from the board of trustees, Ladner released the university from any and all claims arising under his contract. The university agreed to pay a one-time settlement payment of $950,000, stated Thomas Gottschalk, acting chairperson of the board of trustees. The university, he said, will deduct withholding taxes on an additional $398,000 in income reported for Ladner for the years 2002-2005 and $125,000 in reimbursable personal expenses due the university for the same period, as determined by the trustees' audit committee and accepted by the board, he stated.
Gottschalk said Ladner will also keep the compensation that he had deferred - or set aside - annually during his 11 years in office. "This deferred compensation includes approximately $1 million which is the present cash value of a split-dollar insurance policy for which Dr. Ladner is named beneficiary," Gottschalk said. "It also includes current account balances in two deferred compensation trusts established for Dr. Ladner's benefit, which now total about $1.75 million."
Ladner will vacate the presidential residence in 90 days, and the university has agreed to reimburse him for relocation expenses up to $20,000.
"The board felt it was in the best interests of the entire university community to put the controversy surrounding the audit committee's investigation and Dr. Ladner's employment behind it," Gottschalk said.
"I along with many others have been saddened that recent events have overshadowed the great achievements of American University during Dr. Ladner's presidency, and I hope over time some balance and perspective will enable people to focus on the positives of his presidency as this controversy recedes into the past," he said.
The Rev. Jerome King Del Pino, top staff executive of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, agreed with Gottschalk about Ladner's contributions to the university. He said he is convinced that Ladner's presidency "will be noted in its (American University's) history books as one of the most significant periods of growth as well as consolidation of research to pursue academics and research in the higher education enterprise."
Del Pino, a member of the board of trustees, told United Methodist News Service that "it is very difficult not to conclude that President Ladner has exercised poor judgment regarding his responsibility as a fiduciary of the university, and to the extent that he has done this, he has failed to give the leadership that should be expected."
He also put the lack of governance of the president's office on the shoulders of the trustees. "It is equally true that the American University Board of Trustees is accountable for its failure of proper governance and giving essential oversight for the work of the office of the president."
Six of the school's academic deans and the university librarian condemned the trustees' decision to provide Ladner with a settlement package.
"As academic leaders of American University, we condemn the decision of the Board of Trustees to offer former President Ladner a multimillion-dollar settlement package and the closed process by which that decision was reached. We do not believe this is an appropriate way to manage the university. We must have transparency and accountability consistent with principles of good governance and the values of American University," the deans and librarian said in a statement.
A search committee for a new president of the 112-year-old university will likely be formed at the board of trustees' Nov. 11 meeting, but until a successor is found, Kerwin said he is "committed to moving forward with renewed vision and a concentrated effort."
"Our focus is on education mission and rebuilding a new AU through the capital campaign. Our values are intact, our principles are strong, and we will continue to listen to the voices of AU on matters of significance."
He also emphasized the importance of improving transparency and communication with all the university's constituencies.
Case 1 part 3
Bitterness Is Still Evident at AU
Students Lampoon Ladner Costs; Faculty Senate Condemns Deal
By Susan Kinzie and Valerie Strauss
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, November 3, 2005; B02
At a little American University coffee shop, someone has posted a sign by the menu with wads of fake money taped to it: Drink of the FY '05, the Ben Ladner. With one shot of espresso $462. Cold milk $6,007. Steamed milk $72,986. Flavoring $544. And finally: "Our gratitude $700,000."
The campus has been simmering since the board agreed to a $3.75 million departure deal with Benjamin Ladner, who was forced out of the presidency last month after an investigation questioned his spending, and signs of bitterness are everywhere.
Yesterday, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution condemning the settlement as grossly excessive, voicing a lack of confidence in the board and asking for a thorough reform before any presidential search is begun.
That followed statements by faculty at AU's six schools and a denunciation of the settlement by the deans. Student groups had called for an overhaul of the board; just around the corner from that coffee shop in the School of International Service this week, a growing group met to plot strategies and coordinate responses.
The Faculty Senate talked about calling for resignations of trustees and a halt to the severance but quickly dropped the ideas as impractical. "I think the discontentment is very broad and very deep," said Lesley Gill, a member of the Faculty Senate, "but I think the ideas people have about what to do next are quite varied."
Trustees have launched an unprecedented outreach to the campus community, starting with a letter of apology late last week and a series of closed-door meetings with campus leaders this week. Some students are hopeful that trustees will go even further, holding a campus wide, open town hall meeting soon.
Acting Chairman Thomas A. Gottschalk said trustees understand campus sentiment about the settlement and have tried to explain why they believe it was appropriate. They have also heard from many on campus who prefer that the board not to rush into a presidential search until it has resolved its own governance issues.
"That's an open question," Gottschalk said, and one that trustees will be discussing actively.
Controversy began this spring when trustees decided to audit Benjamin and Nancy Ladner's spending after an anonymous letter accused the couple of extravagant personal and travel expenses billed to the private university. He was suspended in August and removed from the presidency Oct. 10.
Trustees have asked the couple to reimburse American $134,000, report nearly $400,000 in additional taxable income for benefits received from the school and pay the university the money it would have withheld for taxes on that imputed income.
Ladner has maintained that most of the spending was allowed under his contract.
Last week, Ladner and the board agreed to a one-time severance payment of $950,000 and about $2.75 million in deferred compensation and benefits. The agreement, which Gottschalk said is final and binding, cuts all of Ladner's ties to American. By the time the deal was final; five trustees had resigned, changing the balance of power on the board: Some firm supporters of the Ladners remained, and some of the harshest critics stepped down.
The Senate Finance Committee asked American last week for documents as part of an ongoing review of nonprofit institutions.
Some on campus say the severance payment was necessary and infinitely better than risking a costly lawsuit. Some just wish the whole issue would go away, so that AU can return to being AU.
But others are too angry to let the issue fade. Some parents are furious, and alumni have also weighed in. Edward C. Bou, a 1958 Washington College of Law graduate who has donated substantial sums to the school, said he was disgusted with the severance package, "especially since we have so many deserving and impoverished students who are having great trouble staying in school."
Students for a New AU started when three seniors became angry about the investigation of Ladner and wondered when someone would organize a protest. "Finally we were just like; somebody is going to have to do something. It's going to have to be us," said senior Maeve Reed. Now they're talking about a long-term strategy, coordinated with student government and other leaders, that includes messages to send to Congress and revised bylaws to present to the board.
The Student Bar Association led a group drafting a plan that, among other things, calls for regular audits, a new process for appointing trustees and more information for students. The Graduate Leadership Council denounced the board and called on it to halt any presidential search until the panel is reconstituted. And the undergraduate student government not only decried the settlement but encouraged everyone to petition Congress for change at American.
Megan Linehan, one of the founders of New AU, said student leaders' meeting with incoming board Chairman Gary M. Abramson on Tuesday was a good first step. They thanked Abramson and asked him to back his words with actions, such as town hall meetings. They plan to talk with trustee Matthew S. Pittinsky on campus today.
The Faculty Senate resolution ended by saying that members are encouraged by the board's letter of apology to the campus, confident of the strength of the university and looking forward to working with a reorganized board. Gottschalk said the board will continue to talk with faculty and students and others on issues ahead. "This is just the beginning," he said.
Explanation / Answer
The steps used to communicate with the students :
Social Media has paved a route for 2-way communication between the students and admin staff. The institution can use the social media to explain the rules of the college system.
Steps 1: To get things started and explain to the students.
Step 2 : Define your goals and make clear cut objectives .
Step 3 : The message has to be made very clear without any conspiration.
Step 4: Explain the rules which has to be followed.
Step 5 : Punishment for breaking the rules and going aganist the adminstartion and the disciplinary actions that are to be faced by the students.
Step 6 : Timely meetings with parents and conferences with the respective class teachers .
Step 7 : This will help the teachers explain the progress of the students.
Step 8 : Parent-Teacher meetings helps the parents to know the changes made in the School Adminstration.
These steps will help the admin staff and the parents to know the rules of the school.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.