CC board vote disappointing

The Clarendon College Board of Regents delivered a disappointing vote last week by agreeing to end the contract of President Robert Riza.

What that action will cost the college is not yet known. Lawyers will now get involved, no doubt. The monetary cost may pale in comparison to what the college’s reputation will suffer after its shoddy treatment of a president who has brought growth in enrollment and elevated the college’s standing in the eyes of decision-makers at the state capitol.

No cause was given by the board in their discussion, but it’s been no secret that Riza and certain board members have clashed over the last three years. Despite his successes, certain folks felt they knew better how to run things and made it a point of nit-picking not just Riza’s work but also that of his staff.

Whether it’s something as simple as typing board minutes or as important as a financial report and whoever is doing them, college employees’ don’t seem to be able to get the job done to certain board members’ satisfaction. That was on display again last week.

For more than a year now, Riza has endured the board meetings alone after telling his administrators they no longer had to attend just to suffer monthly abuse. Still the college lost four of its vice presidents in the last two years.

The college also has drawn the attention of its accrediting agency in the last year. One regent even mentioned worrying about putting the college at further risk as a reason for needing to take action on Riza’s contract.

The ironic thing is that the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools – Commission on Colleges is not looking at Clarendon College because of any action taken by Dr. Robert Riza. SACS-COC has its attention on Clarendon because of the past actions of the board.

In fact, the head of the organization has already visited the college last summer to address the board directly on the proper way to behave as board members. The lesson was apparently lost. Furthermore, there has been no action by the board to deal with the specific issues that led to SACS-COC getting involved.

Riza leaving won’t fix that. An interim president won’t fix that. A new president won’t fix that. The culture – and membership – of the board will have to change for things to really improve. As long as two board members know better than any professional how to run the college and a majority of the board listens to those members, it will be hard for any president or administration to flourish and move forward.

The regents are scheduled to meet again this week to talk more about Riza’s contract, the hiring of an interim leader, and the search for a new president. They need to find some time at a future meeting to take a long hard look at the role they themselves have played in things getting where they are today. That may be a tough conversation to have though when those responsible probably don’t believe they’ve done anything wrong and the two regents most likely to tell them otherwise have already resigned.

Whoever follows Robert Riza will have a tough time. How do you keep enrollment at record highs, keep providing amazing opportunities for area students, maintain the college’s reputation for student success, and keep the same level of engagement in Austin to ensure that the voice of one of the smallest colleges in the state isn’t swallowed up by much larger institutions? And can you do it while being micromanaged at home?

Dr. Riza somehow managed to do all that before that board started tearing things apart. He put together an incredibly talented administrative team, and together they did great things. He deserved better than what he got last week. Clarendon College deserved better than what he got.