UC Board working to address termination

The University Center continues to work toward resolving President’s termination notice

Following the notice of termination issued by President Tom Jackson, the University Center group has been working on an official response.

The letter, emailed out to Humboldt State University on Sept. 24 by Jackson, outlined a series of violations that the HSU administration believes the UC group committed. These include the opening of lines of credit for the North Humboldt Recreation and Park District, which runs the Arcata Community Pool, and apparent failure to comply with the President’s review of UC programs earlier in the year.

The notice gave 90 days for the UC group to address and correct the allegations made against them, placing an end date on Dec. 23. If the UC fails to produce acceptable remedies or isn’t granted an extension, the UC’s contract with HSU will be officially terminated.

The UC Board of Directors have repeatedly stated that the allegations were unfounded but would actively look for resolutions. With over a month left, the UC Board has started to draft a response.

“The response letter is still in draft format as the Board does a final review and still has the opportunity to make changes,” Interim Executive Director Wendy Sotomayor said in an email. “Once the letter is final and issued to the President, it will be a public document that we can provide. We hope to have it released early next week.”

During the Oct. 22 UC Board meeting, Vice President Enrollment Management Jason Meriwether listened to the concerns of board members, but provided little feedback into whether or not the proposed ideas would resolve the notice.

“Some of the answers, and I apologize if I sound like a broken record, but it really is similar to my earlier answer,” Meriwether said during the meeting. “I think the board has to review the letter, review the attachments and investigate how it got here then make a determination about what the cure would be.”

Steven Martin, Ph.D., one of the faculty representatives on the UC board has stated that the board’s response will be made public after the administration has a had a chance to review it.

“I think once the response has been approved by the Board and given to the President, it will be public,” said Martin in an email. “But until then, I don’t think we’re in a position to share it, because it could still change between now and then, and the President should get it from us before the public sees it (even though he didn’t afford the Board the same respect when he released the termination notice to the media at the same time the Board got it).”