Thursday, February 25, 2016

Scarborough departure in the works - finally

The vise on University of Akron president Scott Scarborough's tenure is closing.

"He's toast!", a reliable source close to the unraveling conditions at the downtown campus told me, adding that an exit strategy is the next step for the Board of Trustees in the wake of the recent  Faculty Senate no confidence resolution. He said the final chapter will take a little time to work out the details for the transition at the top.  But he assured me they will be worked out.

Speculation of a Scarborough departure grew as the trustees scheduled an executive session within two weeks of its last meeting  even though the  board customarily meets every two months. Also, the meeting sent the board to the DoubleTree in Fairlawn rather than the far more convenient Student Union on campus.  It was believed to have been moved  to avoid possible protestors who have been actively campaigning against the embattled president.

Board chair Jonathan Pavloff has-been quietly making the rounds of  business leaders for their assessment of UA's rocky future with Scarborough still on board and their verdict convinced him the  school couldn't labor on much longer with Scarborough in command.  

As late as midweek, a board staffer  was denying that the DoubleTree closed session was no more than a routine sit-down even though the elements didn't add up.   Oh?

My source, not given to exaggeration, unhesitantly  broke out the "toast" comment without mentioning Scarborough's name.  But his reference  couldn't be mistaken.

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