John Bruce and Erin O'Connor have discussed the public platform of a potential trustee at Dartmouth. SCSU readers should view this in light of the post on our own discussion list about whether or not we need an independent set of trustees here. For those reading from outside, SCSU has no trustees; we are currently "served" by a board of trustees from MnSCU. A management professor here argues that's a bad idea:

... a board would represent and legitimize the institution. A university needs a board of directors or trustees to connect it with the rest of the world. The board would become intimately familiar with the SCSU yet remain independent. It would act as a booster club and ensure that the public had faith in the university despite what it read in the newspaper or heard from politicians. A board could stand up to anyone who threatened the institution, either from within or without. Maybe that's why we don't have one--it would reduce the power and prerogatives of politicians and bureaucrats.

Indeed.