I rise to offer a slight rebuttal to Amye Bensenhaver’s May 4, guest column, “Secret selection process not always beneficial.” It is steeped in confusion as to KSU’s selection committee’s “process,” which was never intended to select a president in secret. Rather it was to narrow the 20-something applicants down to the top three, and then announce them by a date certain, in accordance with KRS 61.810(1)(f), and common HR practices. And that is exactly what they did.
For chrissakes, in April Chair Stephen Mason and Kenny Daugherty, a representative of Myers McRae, the executive search firm contracted to help lead the search, led four town hall meetings “seeking input from various segments of the community on their wants and needs for the search.” These included “the search committee’s … weekly process timeline and procedure.” Does that sound like a lack of transparency? Please!
Community engagement is not equivalent to transparency. Clearly, KSU presidential search team is to be applauded for inviting input on the desired qualifications and attributes of the candidates. But the public will never have an opportunity to assess whether these three candidates represent the best qualified candidates because we were excluded from closed session interviews with all candidates.
As an advocate for open government, I share The State Journal’s concerns that so much of the process was conducted behind closed doors. Like it or not, these closed door searches rarely yield better outcomes, and the "the generic advice cut and pasted from online sources" represent the scholarship of experts infinitely better qualified to assess the value of open university presidential searches than Jim Daniel or I.
These experts are the harshest critics of "private executive selection services," which neither I nor they "are obviously pushing."
It does nothing to advance the debate on this, or any other issue, to draw unsubstantiated inferences based on perceived "dog whistles" that are, in reality, nothing more than unwelcomed opposing positions.
“Community engagement is not equivalent to transparency.”
Granted, but in this context of KSU (not Frankfort) selecting a university president, it is an integral component and over and above what the statute requires. Apart from nearly every one in local government around these parts use closed sessions for a variety of personnel related issues, including firing City Managers or hiring his successor, or dealing with Terri Bradshaw’s 13 page harassment complaint that accused Mayor Bill May, “the Rosens” and other elected officials of directing me to commit numerous felonies to personally torment her, or the City Commission getting rid of Commissioner Kyle Thompson in what a local judge determined as overreach.
“Community engagement helps governments improve the efficiency, legitimacy and transparency of their decision making. By embracing and encouraging participation, it enables policy makers to make more informed decisions by engaging with, and carefully mapping out the needs, opinions and visions of local communities on issues that matter to them. It promotes sustainable decisions by recognizing and communicating the needs and interests of all participants – including decision makers. This increases acceptance of decisions and community commitment to outcomes as local knowledge from diverse groups shapes and creates inclusive, effective solutions. The flow on effect is increased trust in organizations and governance to make better public decisions.“
And besides, who in the public was ever going to take on the responsibility of assessing whether these three candidates represent the best qualified candidates (in who’s opinion?) because “we” (who’s we?) were excluded from closed session interviews with all candidates. What you keep stumbling over is that they had Kenny Daugherty, a dignified white representative of Myers McRae executive search firm, to oversee Mason and the KSU search committee to make sure they didn’t blow it and continue the university being “an endemic problem lurking 'on the hill.'" BTW, that is not a dog whistle, it’s an “unwelcome” bull horn! If you can’t hear it, could be it’s your white privilege!
Given Frankfort’s “checkered past” with race relations concerning KSU, when one finds themself in that hole, it is best to stop digging…it is “not a good look."
Ultimately ,having an honest president and administration that primarily see the higher education of KSU students as the number one priority is necessary.
And having that priority funded properly.
The president’s goal and the administration should be to allow as many students as possible to work for a diploma in higher education, so as to produce young adults that with liberal arts classes and the specialized classes they choose , can go out - find a job - into society and contribute positively while earning a good wage .
And these students should be capable of making intelligent decisions, from what they’ve learned while achieving a higher education.
State-Journal.com’s comments forum is for civil, constructive dialogue about news topics in our community, state, nation and world. We emphasize “civil” at a time when Americans, in the words of the current president, need to “turn down the temperature” of political debates. The State Journal will do its part by more carefully policing this forum. Here are some rules that all commenters must agree to follow:
Absolutely no attacks on other commenters, on guest columnists or on authors of letters to the editor. Our print and online opinion pages are sacred marketplaces of ideas where diverse viewpoints are welcome without fear of retribution. You may constructively critique the ideas and opinions of others, but name-calling, stereotyping and similar attacks are strictly prohibited.
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Keep comments focused on the article or commentary in question. Don’t use an article about the Frankfort City Commission, for example, to rant about national politics.
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Community engagement is not equivalent to transparency. Clearly, KSU presidential search team is to be applauded for inviting input on the desired qualifications and attributes of the candidates. But the public will never have an opportunity to assess whether these three candidates represent the best qualified candidates because we were excluded from closed session interviews with all candidates.
As an advocate for open government, I share The State Journal’s concerns that so much of the process was conducted behind closed doors. Like it or not, these closed door searches rarely yield better outcomes, and the "the generic advice cut and pasted from online sources" represent the scholarship of experts infinitely better qualified to assess the value of open university presidential searches than Jim Daniel or I.
These experts are the harshest critics of "private executive selection services," which neither I nor they "are obviously pushing."
It does nothing to advance the debate on this, or any other issue, to draw unsubstantiated inferences based on perceived "dog whistles" that are, in reality, nothing more than unwelcomed opposing positions.
“Community engagement is not equivalent to transparency.”
Granted, but in this context of KSU (not Frankfort) selecting a university president, it is an integral component and over and above what the statute requires. Apart from nearly every one in local government around these parts use closed sessions for a variety of personnel related issues, including firing City Managers or hiring his successor, or dealing with Terri Bradshaw’s 13 page harassment complaint that accused Mayor Bill May, “the Rosens” and other elected officials of directing me to commit numerous felonies to personally torment her, or the City Commission getting rid of Commissioner Kyle Thompson in what a local judge determined as overreach.
“Community engagement helps governments improve the efficiency, legitimacy and transparency of their decision making. By embracing and encouraging participation, it enables policy makers to make more informed decisions by engaging with, and carefully mapping out the needs, opinions and visions of local communities on issues that matter to them. It promotes sustainable decisions by recognizing and communicating the needs and interests of all participants – including decision makers. This increases acceptance of decisions and community commitment to outcomes as local knowledge from diverse groups shapes and creates inclusive, effective solutions. The flow on effect is increased trust in organizations and governance to make better public decisions.“
And besides, who in the public was ever going to take on the responsibility of assessing whether these three candidates represent the best qualified candidates (in who’s opinion?) because “we” (who’s we?) were excluded from closed session interviews with all candidates. What you keep stumbling over is that they had Kenny Daugherty, a dignified white representative of Myers McRae executive search firm, to oversee Mason and the KSU search committee to make sure they didn’t blow it and continue the university being “an endemic problem lurking 'on the hill.'" BTW, that is not a dog whistle, it’s an “unwelcome” bull horn! If you can’t hear it, could be it’s your white privilege!
Given Frankfort’s “checkered past” with race relations concerning KSU, when one finds themself in that hole, it is best to stop digging…it is “not a good look."
Good point Jim.
Ultimately ,having an honest president and administration that primarily see the higher education of KSU students as the number one priority is necessary.
And having that priority funded properly.
The president’s goal and the administration should be to allow as many students as possible to work for a diploma in higher education, so as to produce young adults that with liberal arts classes and the specialized classes they choose , can go out - find a job - into society and contribute positively while earning a good wage .
And these students should be capable of making intelligent decisions, from what they’ve learned while achieving a higher education.
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State-Journal.com’s comments forum is for civil, constructive dialogue about news topics in our community, state, nation and world. We emphasize “civil” at a time when Americans, in the words of the current president, need to “turn down the temperature” of political debates. The State Journal will do its part by more carefully policing this forum. Here are some rules that all commenters must agree to follow:
Absolutely no attacks on other commenters, on guest columnists or on authors of letters to the editor. Our print and online opinion pages are sacred marketplaces of ideas where diverse viewpoints are welcome without fear of retribution. You may constructively critique the ideas and opinions of others, but name-calling, stereotyping and similar attacks are strictly prohibited.
Leeway will be given for criticism of elected officials and other public figures, but civility is essential. If you focus your criticism on ideas, opinions and viewpoints, you will be less likely to run afoul of our commenting rules.
Keep comments focused on the article or commentary in question. Don’t use an article about the Frankfort City Commission, for example, to rant about national politics.
Hyperpartisanship that suggests anyone on the other side of an issue or anyone in a particular particular party is evil is not welcome. If you believe that all Democrats are socialists intent on destroying America or that all Republicans are racists, there are lots of places on the internet for you to espouse those views. State-Journal.com is not one.
No sophomoric banter. This isn’t a third-grade classroom but rather a place for serious consumers of news to offer their reactions and opinions on news stories and published commentary.
No consumer complaints about individual businesses. If you’ve had a bad experience with a private business or organization, contact the Better Business Bureau or the government agency that regulates that business. If you believe the actions of a private business are newsworthy, contact us at news@state-journal.com and we will consider whether news coverage is merited.
Absolutely no jokes or comments about a person’s physical appearance.
No promotion of commercial goods or services. Our outstanding staff of marketing consultants stands ready to help businesses with effective advertising solutions.
If you state facts that have not been previously reported by The State Journal, be sure to include the source of your information.
No attacks on State Journal staff members or contributing writers. We welcome questions about, and criticism of, our news stories and commentary but not of the writers who work tirelessly to keep their community informed. Corrections of inaccurate information in news stories should be sent to news@state-journal.com rather than posted in the comments section.