After filing a complaint with Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly in December, little has come from the Faculty Committee for the Future of Boston University’s move, according to a spokesperson from the Attorney General’s Office.
Corey Welford, a spokesman for the attorney general, said the office has received a formal statement from the FCFBU, but he would not confirm or deny if there is any pending investigation.
After petitioning the Board of Trustees to accept former President-elect Daniel Goldin, FCFBU refocused to work on changing the board, and the complaint with Reilly’s office is the first step, according to FCFBU member and College of Arts and Science professor David Rohrlich.
“The committee was unsuccessful in its original goal,” he said. “We’re now trying to seek a reform of how the Board of Trustees operates.”
The complaint asks Reilly to investigate the Board of Trustees’ sudden decision to revoke Goldin’s appointment as president, according the committee’s website.
“The Goldin situation was downright scandalous,” Rohrlich said. “In my view, the Board of Trustees did not fulfill their fiduciary obligation to look after the long-term interests of the university.”
According to Chronicle of Higher Education reports, BU paid $30 million in 2002 to companies connected to board members. Trustee Frederick Chicos, who heads the student health insurance company Chickering, had a $5.6 million deal with BU for the 2001-02 academic year, according to the committee’s website.
Rohrlich said he feels the Trustees’ financial interests may have provoked Goldin’s quick removal.
“We don’t know what state violations have taken place, but a reasonable person would notice there is an appearance of impropriety,” he said.
Since the temporary installation of President ad interim Aram Chobanian, FCFBU has transformed its website from bufuture.net into BUWatch, an advocacy site that monitors the administration and “provides a voice” for students and faculty, according to the website. While FCFBU has no official status within the university, Rohrlich said the group has been useful in addressing concerns from faculty and students.
Together with the Faculty Council, the official representative body of faculty and staff, members of FCFBU have suggested ways to improve communication with administrators.
Faculty Council president and CAS professor Herbert Voigt formed the Committee on Communication last December, which he said was designed to facilitate passing information between the faculty and the Board of Trustees.
Voigt said administrators have met with the committee and changed the amount of information available to students and faculty.
“Provost [Dennis] Berkey and President ad interim Chobanian were very receptive to the recommendations,” Voigt said in an email. “I am very pleased with the openness I continue to sense from both men.”
While Berkey said in an email that he closely works with the official Faculty Council, he said he has heard “nothing at any point” from FCFBU.
Chobanian also said in an email he has had “no interactions with the group” and is not familiar with its work.
An online petition the group circulated during the Goldin situation acquired more than 3,000 signatures from faculty, staff, students and alumni, but the group’s efforts were in vain, Rohrlich said.
The board initiated efforts to reform itself by creating an internal governance committee in late October. BU spokesman Colin Riley said he feels the governance committee is better equipped to investigate the board than FCFBU.
“I think the Board of Trustees governing committee is working hard to examine the governance issues and will report them to the board,” he said.