College appointment stands despite questionable process

Despite the fact that members of the Utah College of Applied Technology board of trustees may have violated state law in the recent appointment of President Robert O. Brems, things are moving along at the college without any changes anticipated.

UCAT Chairman Tom Bingham said Tuesday he had yet to receive a letter mailed to him by UCAT board member and Commissioner of Higher Education William Sederburg, which calls for a withdrawal of Brems' appointment and a lawful redo of the process. Bingham said he doesn't think the board did anything wrong "or we wouldn't have done it."

Sederburg believes the board should reconsider Brems' appointment, as it was made "in violation" of two portions of state code. He said there was no official notice of a closed session of the board of trustees, as required by the Utah Open and Public Meetings Act.

"I believe that state law intends that a published agenda item should be clear about when a selection is to be made," Sederburg said in his letter, which was also sent to the governor's office, the State Board of Regents and members of the state Legislature.

State law also requires that "the names of the final candidates for president of Utah College of Applied Technology shall be publicly disclosed." Sederburg said the decision not to publicly release the names of the two finalists was "a violation of the public trust given to the newly reconstituted board."

The 2009 Legislature voted to separate UCAT from regent supervision, giving the entity its own governing board and the authority to appoint its own president, with approval of trustees. Sederburg was the only member to vote "no" to Brems' appointment in the September meeting.

"It is insulting to me that the full board was not respected enough to give each of us an opportunity to ask the finalists a few questions before being asked to make such an important decision," he said. "It appears that the executive committee wants to make all of the major decisions privately, thereby excluding the board members representing the governor, state Board of Regents and others."

Sederburg said it is important to students that there be cooperation and mutual respect between UCAT and the credit-granting institutions, as well as to communities UCAT campuses reside.