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Bill targets lack of professional diversity among University of Missouri curators
When David Steward and Yvonne Sparks resigned from the University of Missouri Board of Curators, many observers noted the lack of ethnic diversity that remained because they were the only two black board members.
A bill that will be heard last Tuesday morning, Feb. 9, by the House Higher Education Committee targets another issue: the lack of career diversity. All six remaining curators are licensed attorneys, and state Rep. Don Rone, R-Portageville, said last Monday, Feb. 8th, he thinks that is four too many.
"You need farmers, you need lawyers, you need CPAs, you need all kind of occupations on board so that board can make decisions out of a more wide range of life experiences," Rone said.
Rone's bill would limit appointments to college governing boards so that no more than two members are from the same occupation. His bill would apply to the curators and the governing board of the other nine four-year universities supported by the state. Three other universities -- Missouri Southern State University, Missouri State University and Lincoln University -- have more than two attorneys on their boards.
Overall, 20 of the 48 voting members of university governing boards are attorneys.
"What got me was the lack of diversification," Rone said. "I would have thought the same thing if you had all farmers or all CPAs. It wasn't specifically picking on lawyers."
The University of Missouri will not take a position on Rone's bill, spokesman John Fougere wrote in an email. The Council on Public Higher Education, a group representing all four-year institutions, also won't take a stand for or against the bill, Executive Director Paul Wagner said.
"Board appointments are a process between the governor and the legislature," Wagner said.
The bill should be clarified to allow someone who has a law license or other professional accreditation but does not practice the profession to serve, Wagner said.
During last year's session, the Missouri Senate held up two of Gov. Jay Nixon's nominations, both attorneys, after Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, objected to the large number of attorney curators. One of the two, Maurice Graham, was confirmed. Before the resignation of Ann Covington of Columbia in November, seven of the nine curators were attorneys.
Rone's bill will highlight the issue even if it doesn't become law, Schaefer said. Because MU operates a health care system that accounts for about half of its annual revenue, one or more curators should understand health care, he said. The university's agriculture and journalism missions are other important considerations for board membership, Schaefer said.
"Whether it is a change in the law or a recognition on the part of the person who appoints the board, I think that issue is going to have to be addressed," he said.
(Reprinted by permission. This story was first published in Monday. Feb. 9 issue of the Columbia Daily Tribune.)