Who shall lead us? Auburn is under fire for its leadership style - Update

University Business, March, 2004

There's managing, and then there's micro-managing. The latter is what the Board of Trustees at Auburn University--Alabama's largest state school--has been accused of doing. So much so that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has put the university on probation. The association is specifically asking that Auburn's leadership show that a minority of members who are calling the shots does not control its board. The association also wants assurances that the board is setting strategic policy which the president then carries out.

The probation is just one more dark mark against the troubled university. In early 2004, President William Walker was forced to resign soon after it was revealed that he made a secret trip to Louisville to talk about changing football coaches before Auburn was to play in the Iron Bowl. The board quickly turned to Alabama's superintendent of education, Ed Richardson, to step in as interim president. (Richardson has agreed to keep the post for two years.) Richardson--known for being outspoken--also is considered to be Gov. Bob Riley's chosen successor for Walker. The local press criticized the board and the governor for not consulting Auburn's faculty about the changes, which leads to more leadership questions.

So far, the board and the governor seem to be in agreement about Richardson's role for Auburn. But it remains to be seen if they stay in step as Auburn moves through its probationary period. This spring, two state senators are expected to propose legislation that will give the governor the power to replace the trustees of any state college or university that is put on probation.

Meanwhile, Auburn has until September to prove that its governance is in order, while it also addresses NCAA charges that its basketball program is guilty of recruitment violations.