Pa. Auditor General Says Penn State's Presidents Are Too Powerful
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Pennsylvania's auditor general is calling on the state legislature to change the way Penn State University is run, saying its president has too much power.
Auditor general Jack Wagner says his analysis from the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges shows that only six percent of those schools have the president as a voting member of the board.
But at Penn State, Wagner says, the president is not only a voting member but also sits as the secretary, setting the agenda for meetings.
"The president cannot be an employee and an equal to the board," Wagner said today.
Wagner also recommends that the governor be made a non-voting member of the board, and that, with some exceptions, all four state-related universities -– Temple, Pitt, Lincoln, and Penn State -– be subject to the state right-to-know law.
Wagner is also critical of the current arrangement allowing for 13 members to establish a quorum, which he points out allows as few as seven members of the 32-member Penn State board to make a decision.
