The American Association of University Professors issued a statement today backing its University of Washington affiliate’s calls for that institution’s provost, Phyllis Wise, to resign from the Board of Directors at Nike. The national AAUP’s statement disputes Ms. Wise’s assertion that she can ethically hold the Nike board position by recusing herself from the board’s discussions of Nike’s contract to provide her university with athletics gear. The statement also expresses concern that her position on the board will have a chilling effect on faculty research on Nike. Ms. Wise has argued that serving on Nike’s board will enable her to bring about positive change at the corporation.
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6 Responses to AAUP Joins Call for U. of Washington Provost to Quit Nike Board
revdude - January 11, 2010 at 4:00 pm
“Ms. Wise has argued that serving on Nike’s board will enable her to bring about positive change at the corportation.” Not to mention the positive change in her bank account, too!
pilotx - January 11, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Why shouldn’t she have a positive change in her bank account? Board work, taken seriously, is difficult and time-consuming.
22011344 - January 11, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Ms. Wise is extremely naive if she thinks she can “bring about positive change at a huge publicly traded corporation.” Either that or she is kidding someone. The conflict of interest, however, is not a laughing matter.
chgok9dad - January 12, 2010 at 9:32 am
So where do we draw the line? I know faculty and administrators that serve on boards at Microsoft, HMOs, etc. What is the impact if they purchase a PC or have a healthcare plan at their university? They bring value to the university and corporation in serving on these boards, making valuable contacts, and promoting the university. Think of fundraising, teaching and promoting entrepreneurship with some of the best company administrators as mentors, etc. There are dangers but there are also benefits. Their involvement should be transparent, and there should be guidelines that they, themselves, promote to the rest of the university.
willynilly - January 12, 2010 at 9:34 am
I posted on this story once before. What I said then still applies today. This appointment failed the smell test the day it was made. If Ms. Wise is so mentally dull that she does not comprehend the problems associated with her position on the Nike Corporate Board, then she does not posess one iota of the intelligence required to serve as the Provost of any institution.
seiu615 - January 12, 2010 at 5:48 pm
I agree with Willynilly — Yes, many faculty and administrators serve on boards of giant companies. This is what’s important: if the professor does research on issues affecting the company whose board he/she is on, then that’s a conflict of interest; this is because “the average prof” will have trouble being 100% objective in the research. If the provost of a university is on the board of a company that is bidding on a contract with that university, that’s a conflict of interest, for the same reason. It’s fine to be on these boards — but one can’t ALSO hold a position where one’s judgment could be affected by the dual roles. The solution is to take a different position or to get off the board.