[Alumni-chat] AB response to webinar

[Sistersara at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/19/2007 9:56:30 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
alumni-chat_forum at antiochians.org writes:

I did  not say there would be an order to continue operations to benefit the 
faculty  or the Alumni or even current students. What I said was that the 
faculty suit  demands the University abide by their contract with the faculty and 
also, in  the interim, asks for injunction against liquidation. The faculty 
may be the  only ones (Union reps any comment?) who have standing because there 
contract  may have been violated. The irreperable harm argument is essentially 
that if  the U starts selling of assets or makes other moves to mothball the 
college  the faculty will not be able to obtain relief, i.e. relief for the 
faculty is  not getting to keep their jobs neccesarilly it is about having their 
contract  rights enforced and keeping the assets together that those rights 
are tied to.  If they prove that other less drastic means were available (e.g. 
massive  alumni movement to keep college going) it won't matter if the U has 
so damaged  the reputation of the College that it won't matter if the
faculty win or  not.



The contract you speak of is about the exchange of instructional services  
for negotiated salary and other benefits.  With the college closing as of  July 
1, 2008 -- accepting no new students, graduating those they can, and then  
offering others assistance in transferring out -- the BoT has nullified the need  
for any instructional services.  In addition, they have declared a  financial 
status that is very similar to bankruptcy, and the labor laws of Ohio  
regarding an organization in financial extremis apply with perhaps a few  
modifications.  They have declared an interest in reorganization, and  possible 
re-opening after a period of very significant reform.  They, the  BoT is saying, we 
don't know what the future College might look like, how it  will be organized, 
but for the immediate future we do not need any instructional  services, 
because we will not have any students for the next few years.   Assuming that proper 
notification is given, transition services provided and all  -- I am just 
saying I can't find any Ohio Case Law that supports injunctive  relief in a 
situation such as this.  
 
I do believe if the Alumni Board were organized independent of the  
University, they might (emphasis on might) find more favor with the matter of  
preserving assets, largely because many of those assets (both fabric and  endowment), 
were originally contributed by Alumni, through campaigns organized  by and 
among alumni for the purpose of improving the college, or in the case of  
scholarship funds, assisting students wishing to attend Antioch.  It might  be a 
stretch -- but I could see courts approving time limited plans about  sequestering 
and preserving assets based on announced plans to reorganize and  reopen.  It 
might not even need a court -- such an agreement between the  BoT and an 
independent Alumni Foundation might be mutually beneficial and  possible.  (but 
get it in writing)!!!
 
Beyond this, I find much of interest in Al Guskin's memo posted here.   
First, it seems apparent that not a whole lot of thought was put into the  
framework for building a re-organization plan, he sees this, and is advising  that an 
independent entity study and in fairly short order recommend a work plan  for 
actually doing the hard work of preparing a reorganization model.  It  seems 
to me he is saying take this seriously, it is not something that gets done  on 
the fly, you are not, once you close, responding to an immediate  crisis.  
Recognize that you don't have such a framework, get serious about  creating one.  
But he is also saying don't get tied down in serving  constituency groups as 
they stand now.  After all, one thing reorganization  accomplishes is to 
reorder constituencies, -- it creates new ones, and changes  the nature of old 
ones.  
 
Second, I see precious little in Guskin's memo, or in most of what is being  
posted to the forums regarding the likely or possibly even predictable 
structure  of Higher Education in the next let's say five decades or so.  Where in 
the  vast scope of that landscape is the place for a progressive, relatively 
small  Liberal Arts College?  What is the potential constituency for it?   What 
are the economic constraints and possible economic leverage such a College  
might have?  What cultural trends need to be considered and accommodated in  any 
planning for Antioch 2.0?  What does new or emerging technology have to  offer 
that could make greater accomplishment possible and yet do things cheaper  
and with much greater efficiency?  I think the dominant tendency here to  
essentially cut out or eliminate any voices that recognize that the BoT does  have 
the power to close the College down for reorganization, works against any  
effort to consider changed conditions and "Futures" that don't correspond to  
ideologically driven causes.  "My Way or the Highway" eliminationist  thinking 
pretty much makes any advocacy of honestly creating an analysis  of problems, and 
planned change so as to re-focus, a no-no.  
 
 



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