UCAT to revisit Robert O. Brems' appointment

Following an extensive review of the board meeting in which a new president was named, the Utah College of Applied Technology has decided to revisit the appointment. The matter will be on the agenda for a meeting Nov. 30 at 9:30 a.m. in the Fort Douglas Officers Club.

UCAT board chairman Tom Bingham said that legal counsel reviewed the agenda, minutes and recordings of an Oct. 15 meeting in which Robert O. Brems was appointed, for a second time, as the institution's president and found the board followed correct procedure, except for some "technical omissions."

"While the board did not knowingly or intentionally violate any part of the code in these omissions, board leadership has determined to schedule a special meeting of the trustees for the purpose of revisiting the process of presidential appointment and to correct the technical omissions," Bingham said. In the upcoming meeting, he said the board will interview two finalists for the position, the same two finalists who were present at the previous meeting, including Brems and Michael J. Bowhuis, current president of the Davis Applied Technology College.

As a voting member of the UCAT board, William Sederburg, Utah's commissioner of higher education, gave the only dissenting vote in the previous meeting and has issued statements saying the appointment was made in violation of state code. He expressed his concern in a letter sent to the board, as well as to members of the State Board of Regents, the governor and Attorney General's Office.

Regulations governing the UCAT board require that the names of finalists for president are to be made public before a final decision is made, and that the intent to make a decision should be a scheduled agenda item, neither of which happened as dictated in the code.

"I feel vindicated on the legal aspect," Sederburg said Friday. "I'm pleased they are going to comply with the law." He said that he hoped UCAT would have reopened the search nationally to bring "new leadership" into the organization. Appointing Brems again, he said, would be "a fundamental mistake."

"UCAT, as a new organization, really needs to build credibility with the leaders of the state," he said.

Brems, who previously served as UCAT president, resigned in 2007 after a state audit questioned his involvement in illegal transactions involving state legislators, as well as questionable accounting practices. He currently serves as a program director for UCAT's Dixie Applied Technology College in St. George. Brems has more than 30 years of experience as an administrator and instructor in career and technical education and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in industrial education at Utah State University.

Bowhuis has served as the top official at UCAT's Kaysville campus since 1994 and before that worked as associate superintendent for the Ogden/Weber Applied Technology College. He also has served on the Kaysville City Council and earned a bachelor's degree from Weber State University and a master's degree in education from Brigham Young University.

The public may comment or provide input on the finalists to the board by e-mailing trustees@ucat.edu by Friday, Nov. 27, at 3 p.m. The Nov. 30 meeting will include the swearing-in of the four newest UCAT board members and closed-session interviews with the candidates.

e-mail: wleonard@desnews.com