January 5, 2007
Editor’s Note: The following letter appeared in the The StarPhoenix Nov. 19. It was written in response to a civic affairs column by Gerry Klein, in which he criticized the University of Saskatchewan Board of Governors for not opening its meetings and decision-making process to the public.
As members of the Board of Governors of the University of Saskatchewan, we want to reassure your readers that our board takes its stewardship of the university’s resources very seriously indeed, and counts accountability to the university’s stakeholders as one of its highest priorities.
Recent opinion pieces printed by the Star Phoenix have suggested otherwise.
We couldn’t agree more that we have a duty to be accountable to our students, faculty, staff, alumni, members of the public and the provincial government in various ways. However, many items come before the board that require discretion and sensitivity to matters of privacy and confidentiality. To be effective, board members must be free to debate and explore the issues without distraction.
For these reasons, it is not unusual for a governing body with the responsibility to discuss and resolve sensitive financial and investment matters, real estate transactions, and collective bargaining issues, to conduct its meetings in camera.
At our recent annual retreat, board members spent a full day exploring our processes to ensure we follow good governance practices. We also addressed perceptions that the board is a secretive body and that this secrecy undermines our accountability.
We discussed in depth ways that we can provide greater transparency in our processes without compromising our effectiveness, and measured ourselves against best practices at other universities in Canada. It was clear during that discussion that every member of our board shares a deep commitment to the U of S and a strong sense of responsibility to ensure continuous improvement in the board’s corporate governance.
These values will shape our decisions in the months to come about ways that we can help our stakeholders to understand how the board works to meet its obligations and responsibilities including appropriate and constructive transparency practices.
Art Dumont, Chair
Nancy Hopkins, Vice Chair, and Chair of
Governance and Executive Committee
University of Saskatchewan Board of Governors
Login
