Zach Mulholland is asked for less profanity, more leadership as LCC board chair

Presenter: It’s as serious an allegation as a board can face. At the Lane Community College Board of Education April 2, Kevin Alltucker:

Kevin Alltucker: I have an important letter to read to the board, please.

Dear Board of Education:

[00:00:13] Effective leadership is a blend of vision, collaboration, professional communication, emotional intelligence, and the ability to inspire and guide others towards common goals. Effective leadership is not about wielding power forcefully or unilaterally.

[00:00:29] This letter will describe my concerns with the chair of the Board of Education’s ineffective leadership and repeated, inappropriate and unprofessional behaviors toward the president of Lane Community College.

I am writing the board because my attempts to resolve the issues directly with the board chair have been unsuccessful.

[00:00:47] To provide background, I will discuss my observations of the chair’s behavior and context with my professional experience, as well as the standards from the Association of Community College Trustees.

During the past seven months, as vice chair of the board, I’ve attended biweekly agenda scheduling meetings with the chair, the president, and the staff liaison to the board.

[00:01:09] During these meetings, the board chair has become increasingly verbally abusive to the president, often attempting to bully the president by raising his voice and using profanity. The chair has repeatedly used language that is offensive, derogatory, and profane, often challenging the president’s position with condemning and dismissive statements.

[00:01:29] I’ve spoken to the chair numerous times regarding his behavior over the past few months and asked him to stop his unprofessional and abusive actions. Despite my efforts, the chair’s negative behaviors have increased. On March 27, I ended an agenda setting meeting after the chair repeatedly raised his voice and swore at the president.

[00:01:49] My opinion was that the chair created an unsafe and hostile environment and I was concerned about the president’s well-being, so I asked the meeting to end immediately. I base that decision on observing the President’s facial expressions and body language, and listening to her suggestion that perhaps the meeting should be ended.

[00:02:09] It is important for the board to understand that during these repeated verbal attacks from the chair over the past months, the president consistently remained calm, gracious, and attempted to explain her perspectives in a professional manner.

I hold a Ph.D. in educational leadership and worked at the University of Oregon for nearly 20 years in various roles, including classroom instruction, research and evaluation, and university committees.

[00:02:35] Most of my academic work centered on the human services professions and the importance of mediating aggressive and bullying behaviors with positive relationships. Some of my work investigated the negative effects of structural racism on people of color, specifically in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

[00:02:53] Prior to my academic career, I was a construction engineer for 20 years, and I supervise many employees and project teams. I have more than 30 years of experience as a nonprofit board member serving on local boards, including leadership positions. The span of my professional work has been characterized by respectful, professional relationships, problem solving, and effective teamwork.

[00:03:15] In all of my professional experience, I have never experienced any leadership behavior as inappropriate or disrespectful as what I have observed with the current chair.

[00:03:25] Presenter: After a point of order, he continued. Kevin Alltucker:

[00:03:28] Kevin Alltucker: It has gone on too long and I cannot sit by idly, silently anymore…

[00:03:34] Based on my professional experience, I’m concerned that the board’s chair’s verbally abusive behaviors toward the president has formed a negative environment that could be preventing her from performing her work.

[00:03:45] Additionally, the observed disrespectful behaviors toward the president are consistent with many of the negative dynamics described in the academic literature that are related to structural racism and sexism. Specifically, the chair’s continued hostile, intimidating, harassing, and dismissive speech towards the president are congruent with the literature.

[00:04:05] The ACCT is a nonprofit organization that started in 1969, around the same time that LCC began. The ACCT represents more than 6,500 elected and appointed community college trustees, and provides guidelines and standards for effective boards of governance. The following paragraphs are based on the information in the publication, ‘Trusteeship and Community Colleges: A Guide for Effective Governance.’

[00:04:32] One of the fundamental requirements for effective governance is a healthy and respectful relationship between the board and the president. This doesn’t mean the board rubber-stamps whatever the president wants, but rather works alongside the president’s supporting efforts to make the college better.

[00:04:48] The board must have confidence in the president’s ability to operate the college in a competent and professional manner. An important role of the chair is to facilitate the relationship between the board and the president, and to promote a collaborative partnership. Public support for the president is essential and any wavering sends a clear signal to the public and to the president that the board is not satisfied with the president’s performance.

[00:05:15] President Bulger’s performance has been exemplary and she’s making excellent progress on the three goals that the board approved: fiscal health, increased enrollment, and institutional climate of the college. Any statements to the contrary are not true and are contradictory to the data from the president’s ongoing performance evaluation.

[00:05:35] The role of the chair is also to facilitate discussions of diverse opinions efficiently and maintain decorum. The chair loses effectiveness if disrespectful behavior is allowed to continue, and it is especially problematic when the chair is the one exhibiting the disrespectful behavior.

[00:05:53] Recently the board received a formal complaint regarding the board’s treatment of the president, and as another example of ineffective leadership, the chair has not raised addressing the complaint as a priority.

[00:06:06] Based on my professional experiences and the ACCT standards, I’m informing the board that the chair’s behaviors toward the president are unprofessional, inappropriate, and unsupportable.

[00:06:16] I believe the chair’s actions directly conflict with the standards of effective leadership and have likely created a hostile environment, thus putting the board and the college at risk because of the real, very real possibility of losing a highly qualified and effective president who is fulfilling the performance standards as set by the board.

[00:06:35] I’m not willing to idly stand by and let this happen. Based on my professional opinion, the chair is a bully who is misusing his chairmanship role to intimidate the president. Frankly, I’m embarrassed by the chair’s actions and behaviors. And I expect more from a chairperson leading the board of an important public education organization.

[00:06:55] I request the chair immediately stop abusive behaviors toward the president and issue a public apology to the president. I request the chair collaborate with the president and publicly support the president’s efforts. If the chair cannot commit to these requests, including refraining from abusive and hostile behavior, he needs to step down as chair and allow someone who can lead the board without putting the board or LCC at risk.

[00:07:21] Sincerely, Kevin Alltucker. Thank you.

[00:07:24] Zach Mulholland (Board of Education, chair): Steve.

[00:07:26] Steve Mital: I’m not going to comment on the letter, but it’s very, very, it’s about as serious an allegation as we can have, right?

[00:07:33] And I’m not here at this moment to say what’s right and what’s wrong.

[00:07:37] My expectation is only that this not be dropped, and that board leadership work with the president and then inform the rest of us as to what process we might take to get ourselves back on a healthier track, because we clearly need that.

[00:07:50] And that is my expectation of board leadership at this point in time.

[00:07:54] Presenter: An insider goes public with serious allegations regarding Zach Mulholland. One board member wants to know how leadership will get back on track.

[00:08:03] This story recommended by a community contributor to Whole Community News, KEPW 97.3, Resistance Radio for the Junction City Conurbation.