Trusteeship - May/June 2020 - 36

THE 2019-2020 NASON AWARD WINNERS

gress and founder of the first chiropractic clinic at the National
Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Morgan actually had nominated his board for a Nason leadership award five weeks before the tornado based upon how it
navigated a complicated and messy governance crisis. In his frank
letter, Morgan said that when he arrived in 2016, he was Parker's
third president in five years and had heard rumors of dysfunction
on a board some of whose members "had inserted themselves into
the operations of the institution." Eventually, under Smith's leadership, eight of 19 trustees resigned. Now there are 11, all focused on
Parker's new strategic plan.
The situation "was and is unusual," said Morgan in an interview.
"What happened through this disturbance was that Dr. Smith used
all the tools at his disposal as a chairman and in proper governance
to resolve problems."
Instead of allowing board discussions to disintegrate into arguments over internal conflicts, the president said, "he worked this
out methodically over time using all the tools of good governance
in the documents we've used and read from AGB." Smith also
helped bring new blood to the board, with new members with
expertise in finances, governance, higher education compliance,
healthcare, and marketing.
Smith, a son and father of chiropractors, said that some of the
former trustees "had difficulties accepting what a board really
should do and how it should focus on more visionary type issues.
That led to a number of resignations and a lot of frustration."
Now, between the resignations and addition of new members,
Smith said, "the board became mission driven and very visionary
and strategic in its efforts," so much so that even a tornado could
not drive the university off course. "Instead of hunkering down
and thinking of this as tragic, we looked at it as an opportunity to
make some changes in our campus, expand our footprint and get
us set up for the next 20 years," he added. Parker quickly acquired a
nearby, second campus that was available.
It was already the fourth fastest growing college in Texas,
according to the Dallas Business Journal with 1,600 students in
29 degree programs including degrees in cybersecurity, neurosciences, health sciences, and management in addition to chiropractic
and massage therapy.1 It enrolled 1,000 back when it was a college
of chiropractic only.
While the board meets quarterly, Morgan and Smith converse
each week and text back and forth almost daily. "We're a very
healthy board now, focused on success for the student," said Smith,
a non-alumnus who was recruited to the board by a member who
was a classmate from another chiropractic college.
"It's good for us to problem-solve together," said Morgan, and
"good for Dr. Smith to know what steps we're taking and how the
rebuilding and recruitment is coming. Ironically, we're growing
even though half our campus was destroyed.
36 TRUSTEESHIP MAY. JUN. 2020

"My job is to make sure we focus on the strategic plan," said
Smith. Some chiropractic institutions have struggled because
they were solely dependent on their chiropractic tuition. Becoming a university with a multitude of programs "has helped us
tremendously."
The strategic plan "has inspired a spirit of adventure and exploration at the university .... Virtually everyone who hears our vision
'wants in,'" said Morgan, and "that sets us apart for the next 20 years."

Oregon Southern University
Board of Trustees

After several years of dwindling support for higher education,
the Oregon legislature voted in 2013 to give its public universities
more autonomy and their own boards of trustees. On July 1, 2015,
governance transferred from the Oregon University System and
the now-defunct State Board of Higher Education to individual
boards of trustees overseen by the new Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
The newly hatched Board of Trustees of Southern Oregon University (SOU) was still appointed by the governor, but had much
closer ties to its community and region. It also had a lot on its
plate. SOU was functioning with an interim president and without
a strategic plan. Twice in the past decade it had endured fiscal
emergencies that resulted in budget cuts, furloughs, and reorganizations of departments. In 2013, majors in physics, German, and
geology were axed.
As Board Chair Lyn Hennion put it, "At that time, the university
was merely trying to stay alive."
The board also did not have a free hand. Before disbanding, the
Oregon University System had imposed strict fiscal constraints
and set targets OSU had to meet before it would be allowed independence. It included maintaining a reserve equal to 10 percent of
annual expenditures; OSU's sat at 3.5 percent.
Morale was low on campus and off, Hennion recalled. "The
campus did not know the board or how we would govern .... We
talked to a lot of people and listened more than we talked."
It also quickly undertook a search for a new president, whom it
found in less than six months: Linda Schott, then-president of the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Schott, an authority on higher education administration, said, "I thought it was a great chance to work with
a board that did not have a firmly entrenched culture so that we could
together grow and develop a healthy system of governance for our
campus." Formulating a strategic plan was the first objectives.
Hennion came from the financial world and welcomed the
opportunity to help SOU get its finances in order. The board and
its committees met 60 times that first year and 15 the next. The

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