AU's board could see influx of new blood

Two Auburn University trustees are already in the pipeline awaiting confirmation by the Alabama Senate, and the terms of seven additional trustees are set to expire in early 2011. In addition, Gov. Bob Riley holds a position on Auburn University's governing board by virtue of his position, and he won't be returning.

That means the 14-member board will be down to four sitting trustees who are keeping their seats--and two of them will have to give up an ample amount of time to sit on the Auburn University Trustee Selection Committee.

"The trustee selection committee will have the chance to substantially improve the AU Board of Trustees in the next year," said Andy Hornsby of Montgomery, a former president of the AU Alumni Association who was active in getting legislation passed in 2000 that changed the process for selecting trustees.

Until that time, Alabama's governor nominated trustees, and the Alabama Senate's nominating committee was supposed to forward their names to the Senate floor for confirmation. In 2000, voters of the state approved the creation of the AU trustee nomination committee, consisting of two members appointed by the board of trustees, two appointed by the Auburn Alumni Association and the governor or his surrogate.

The process was supposed to take some of the politics out of the process. Now, committee members receive nominations from many sources, interview candidates and vote on their choice before forwarding the nominee to the Senate.

The large number of openings on the board doesn't mean sitting trustees should automatically be re-appointed or that the nominating process should be streamlined, however, agree Hornsby and current AU Alumni Association president Nancy Fortner of Brownsboro in north Alabama.

"Basically, the alumni members I've talked to believe in turnover on this board," Hornsby said. "There is no reason to reappoint anybody simply because of the turnover. We need people with fresh ideas, and we believe in term limits."

Fortner has served on the trustee selection committee four times. She notes that the constitutional amendment creating the committee provides that names are solicited from all constituencies, and her charge to the committee is to look at all nominees who are nominated to determine who is best.

"The process should be open and inclusive, involving all Auburn constituencies," she said. "I think it is realistic to expect TSC members to be involved in multiple interviews for each vacancy--whatever it takes to ensure the best nominees for Auburn to serve on the governing board and provide oversight for our university."

The 2000 legislation provides that trustees can serve no more than two seven-year terms, but several old-line trustees were grandfathered in, Hornsby said. As a result, former Montgomery banker Bobby Lowder--who has already served nearly 30 years as a trustee--is eligible for another seven-year term when his current term expires in April.

The amendment also provides that trustees must not have reached the age of 70 when appointed, but Lowder will be in his late 60s were he to be re-nominated, Hornsby said.

"Mr. Lowder ought to do the right thing and step down," he said. "We're ready for him to step down."

In fact, the amendment creating the trustee selection committee was passed after Lowder used every means possible in a fight to keep his trustee seat in the mid-1990s.

Then Gov. Fob James sought to appoint someone else, but Lowder kept right on showing up for meetings--for four years--until incoming Gov. Don Siegelman gave Lowder the seat back.

At the same time, Siegelman appointed a number of trustees viewed as Lowder confederates to AU's governing board. They include Byron Franklin from Birmingham and Jimmy Rane from Abbeville, whose terms are also expiring next year.

The process, however, remains highly political. Alabama's new governor will sit on the governing board as well as holding a place on the committee that selects nominees, and Hornsby was campaigning Tuesday, insisting that a vote for gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne would be a mistake for "the Auburn family."

Trustee Jimmy Rane was Byrne's campaign manager as well as being a major contributor to Byrne's campaign.

"Do you not think a Gov. Byrne would have gotten pressure to re-elect Rane to the board?" Hornsby asked.

In an e-mail to Auburn alumni, Hornsby linked Rane to Lowder and noted that other trustees had made large donations to Byrne's campaign.

"You can be assured that Bobby and Jimmy are in lockstep and would use a Byrne governorship to secure their future appointments as trustees," he wrote.

State Sen. Ted Little, D-Auburn, sits on the Senate Confirmations Committee. He notes that politics also has gotten in the way of confirming the two trustee nominations already in the pipeline.

They are former Auburn quarterback Randy Campbell of Shoal Creek near Birmingham and B.T. Roberts of Mobile. Campbell was nominated to fill the seat occupied by Paul Spina of Pelham, whose term expired in the spring of 2009. Roberts was nominated to fill the seat occupied by fellow Mobilian Jack Miller, who died last summer.

"The two who were not approved should have been approved," Little said. "It became an issue of diversity. A couple of individuals in the Senate held out, indicated that the university board did not have enough racial diversity."

He said it was "totally out of line" for a couple of individuals to block trustees who had been vetted and properly nominated through a procedure set up by constitutional amendment.

Little said that the Senate would reorganize when it reconvenes in the spring, and he intends to use the trustee issue as a bargaining chip in selection of the Senate's powerful president pro tem.

"One of my major commitments will be that we have a pro tem who is totally loyal to the process of getting AU trustees confirmed as soon as we can," he said.

The trustee selection amendment passed in 2000 provides that trustees may continue to serve for a year after their term expires, so Spina is still on AU's board. The crop of trustees expiring in spring 2011 will likely also see their terms extended by a year.

After that, the board's business could come grinding to a halt if the Senate doesn't confirm nominations.

"Absolutely it could become a big deal," Little said. "If there is a crisis, that is when it will be."

July 15, 2010

AU’s board could see influx of new blood

Two Auburn University trustees are already in the pipeline awaiting confirmation by the Alabama Senate, and the terms of seven additional trustees are set to expire in early 2011. In addition, Gov. Bob Riley holds a position on Auburn University’s governing board by virtue of his position, and he won’t be returning.

That means the 14-member board will be down to four sitting trustees who are keeping their seats—and two of them will have to give up an ample amount of time to sit on the Auburn University Trustee Selection Committee.

“The trustee selection committee will have the chance to substantially improve the AU Board of Trustees in the next year,” said Andy Hornsby of Montgomery, a former president of the AU Alumni Association who was active in getting legislation passed in 2000 that changed the process for selecting trustees.

Until that time, Alabama’s governor nominated trustees, and the Alabama Senate’s nominating committee was supposed to forward their names to the Senate floor for confirmation. In 2000, voters of the state approved the creation of the AU trustee nomination committee, consisting of two members appointed by the board of trustees, two appointed by the Auburn Alumni Association and the governor or his surrogate.

The process was supposed to take some of the politics out of the process. Now, committee members receive nominations from many sources, interview candidates and vote on their choice before forwarding the nominee to the Senate.

The large number of openings on the board doesn’t mean sitting trustees should automatically be re-appointed or that the nominating process should be streamlined, however, agree Hornsby and current AU Alumni Association president Nancy Fortner of Brownsboro in north Alabama.

“Basically, the alumni members I’ve talked to believe in turnover on this board,” Hornsby said. “There is no reason to reappoint anybody simply because of the turnover. We need people with fresh ideas, and we believe in term limits.”

Fortner has served on the trustee selection committee four times. She notes that the constitutional amendment creating the committee provides that names are solicited from all constituencies, and her charge to the committee is to look at all nominees who are nominated to determine who is best.

“The process should be open and inclusive, involving all Auburn constituencies,” she said. “I think it is realistic to expect TSC members to be involved in multiple interviews for each vacancy—whatever it takes to ensure the best nominees for Auburn to serve on the governing board and provide oversight for our university.”

The 2000 legislation provides that trustees can serve no more than two seven-year terms, but several old-line trustees were grandfathered in, Hornsby said. As a result, former Montgomery banker Bobby Lowder—who has already served nearly 30 years as a trustee—is eligible for another seven-year term when his current term expires in April.

The amendment also provides that trustees must not have reached the age of 70 when appointed, but Lowder will be in his late 60s were he to be re-nominated, Hornsby said.

“Mr. Lowder ought to do the right thing and step down,” he said. “We’re ready for him to step down.”

In fact, the amendment creating the trustee selection committee was passed after Lowder used every means possible in a fight to keep his trustee seat in the mid-1990s.

Then Gov. Fob James sought to appoint someone else, but Lowder kept right on showing up for meetings—for four years—until incoming Gov. Don Siegelman gave Lowder the seat back.

At the same time, Siegelman appointed a number of trustees viewed as Lowder confederates to AU’s governing board. They include Byron Franklin from Birmingham and Jimmy Rane from Abbeville, whose terms are also expiring next year.

The process, however, remains highly political. Alabama’s new governor will sit on the governing board as well as holding a place on the committee that selects nominees, and Hornsby was campaigning Tuesday, insisting that a vote for gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne would be a mistake for “the Auburn family.”

Trustee Jimmy Rane was Byrne’s campaign manager as well as being a major contributor to Byrne’s campaign.

“Do you not think a Gov. Byrne would have gotten pressure to re-elect Rane to the board?” Hornsby asked.

In an e-mail to Auburn alumni, Hornsby linked Rane to Lowder and noted that other trustees had made large donations to Byrne’s campaign.

“You can be assured that Bobby and Jimmy are in lockstep and would use a Byrne governorship to secure their future appointments as trustees,” he wrote.

State Sen. Ted Little, D-Auburn, sits on the Senate Confirmations Committee. He notes that politics also has gotten in the way of confirming the two trustee nominations already in the pipeline.

They are former Auburn quarterback Randy Campbell of Shoal Creek near Birmingham and B.T. Roberts of Mobile. Campbell was nominated to fill the seat occupied by Paul Spina of Pelham, whose term expired in the spring of 2009. Roberts was nominated to fill the seat occupied by fellow Mobilian Jack Miller, who died last summer.

“The two who were not approved should have been approved,” Little said. “It became an issue of diversity. A couple of individuals in the Senate held out, indicated that the university board did not have enough racial diversity.”

He said it was “totally out of line” for a couple of individuals to block trustees who had been vetted and properly nominated through a procedure set up by constitutional amendment.

Little said that the Senate would reorganize when it reconvenes in the spring, and he intends to use the trustee issue as a bargaining chip in selection of the Senate’s powerful president pro tem.

“One of my major commitments will be that we have a pro tem who is totally loyal to the process of getting AU trustees confirmed as soon as we can,” he said.

The trustee selection amendment passed in 2000 provides that trustees may continue to serve for a year after their term expires, so Spina is still on AU’s board. The crop of trustees expiring in spring 2011 will likely also see their terms extended by a year.

After that, the board’s business could come grinding to a halt if the Senate doesn’t confirm nominations.

“Absolutely it could become a big deal,” Little said. “If there is a crisis, that is when it will be.”