Undoubtedly the leadership of the ARP Synod will be watching closely to see how any recommended bylaws changes will reflect the four key recommendations SACS made to the college last May.

The Board of Trustees of Erskine College and Seminary met on October 14 and 15 for the first time since the ARP General Synod in June.

At that Synod meeting, a compromise was developed at the eleventh hour seeking to resolve the high level of tension existing through the denomination as a result of a lawsuit brought by Erskine Board members against the Synod because of actions taken at a special Synodical meeting earlier in the year.

That compromise motion read as follows:

The Synod states and establishes that, contingent upon the plaintiffs dismissing the lawsuit against the General Synod of the ARP and the General Synod not being required to pay any of the Plaintiffs attorney’s fees, the Erskine Board of Trustees as now constituted (taking account of the change in its composition with the seating on July 1 of the Trustees elected today by Synod) is recognized by the General Synod as the duly appointed and constituted Board of Erskine College and Seminary. Further, the General Synod states that it has no intention to remove said Trustees pursuant to its March 3, 2010 recommendation number 2 which named an interim board. (See full story at http://bit.ly/dbqdrk)

The contingency in this agreement was the dismissing of the then existing lawsuit against the General Synod. After the passing of over three months, that finally occurred in mid September. Here is the statement from the Erskine Alumni Association announcing that action:

We are pleased to inform you that all parties have agreed to settlement terms in our legal action. Attorneys of record have received all necessary signatures and are working to file required legal documents. We believe this settlement agreement accomplished as much we could have hoped to achieve in court. With this agreement and the recognition of Erskine’s existing trustees by all parties, Erskine and the Board can confidently move forward to review governance and conduct all other business of guiding the College and Seminary. (See full story at http://bit.ly/9OXoMi)

With this potentially harmful situation behind them, the Erskine Board held their first regular meeting. A report from the Board was posted in the NetNews section of the Erskine College web site last Thursday and contained important information concerning the future of the school.

A joint report was presented from the chairs of two of the Board’s standing committees – the Bylaws Committee and the Board Policy Committee – concerning the future work of the Bylaws Committee, which read:

“The bylaw committee intends to review Erskine’s bylaws with the following principles in mind:
· We embrace the vision of President David Norman, who describes Erskine College as a ‘faithful, truly self-governing institution of the ARP Church.’
· We also endorse the statement in the Resolution of the Alumni Association that the ‘ties between Erskine and the ARP Church are integral to Erskine’s rich heritage’ and
· We have no intention to recommend to the Board to dissolve these ties.
Any revisions will be in accord with SACS’ requirements to maintain Erskine’s accreditation and will support Erskine’s tradition of academic excellence as a Christian liberal arts college.”

Both chairmen explained to the Board that they were hopeful that their recommendations would be ready for the February meeting of the full Board

In a separate, but certainly not unrelated matter, Board Chairman Scott Mitchell reported to the Board that a representative of the Southern Association of College and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges has been invited and is scheduled to address the board at its February 2011 meeting. The school remains on a SACS ‘warning status’, primarily because of governance issues, following the dispute between the school and denomination.

Undoubtedly the leadership of the ARP Synod will be watching closely to see how any recommended bylaws changes will reflect the four key recommendations SACS made to the college last May, which were;
Ø The institution demonstrate that the Board of Trustees is not controlled by any organization or interests separate from it.
Ø The Board put in place policies to protect the institution from unwarranted intrusion by external forces even if those forces are from its religious body.
Ø Steps be taken to clearly delineate the policy-making function of the governing board and those responsibilities be clearly communicated to the institution’s faculty, staff, students and alumni. Further, since the Board has clear authority to deal with policy matters, the Synod should refer such matters to the board.
Ø The institution have and enforce adequate procedures for safeguarding and protecting academic freedom.
(For the full story on the SACS report and actions, go to http://bit.ly/deUx7D

Since the current governance structure of the College-Synod connection requires the vote of the full Synod, it remains a probability that next June’s Synod meeting will be faced with some crucial decisions to consider.