Byron Dobson

Democrat senior writer

The prickly relationship between Florida A&M University’s board of trustees and President Elmira Mangum was on full display at Wednesday’s board meeting,

It began with Mangum questioning her evaluation, led to her bosses voicing doubts about the longevity of her tenure, then segued into an unsuccessful move to extend her contract for one year.

It ended about 90 minutes later with Mangum's future largely unresolved and a call to create a task force to map the university's way forward.

The task force, trustee chairman Kelvin Lawson said, would be charged with “negotiating a next-step plan with the president.”

“That could include a new one-year contract to removal," he said. "Everything is up for discussion.".

Unfavorable evaluation

The tension between Mangum and some board members quickly set the tone for a lengthy, candid discussion that also exposed differences among trustees. It started when Mangum was asked if she had questions about her evaluation.

Yes, she had plenty. The president, who is in the third year of a three-year contract, spoke assuredly and directly.

“I take my responsibilities for leading this university very seriously,” said Mangum, who was seated next to Lawson. “There were several, at least nine of the factors, that were not clear.”

Mangum questioned the correlation between some trustee responses and the evaluation categories. She wondered if board members had enough time to perform the review. She also wanted to know if her job description was shared equally among trustees.

A major sticking point was the benchmarks on the evaluation. Mangum asked trustees what “meets” or “exceeds” expectations, mean.

That drew cheers from some in the audience of students, faculty, alumni and supporters.

In response, trustees questioned the belated timing of the president’s concerns.

“Why is this coming up now when you had the time to ask for clarity earlier in the evaluation?” asked trustee Matthew Carter II. “What you are saying now would have been tremendously helpful at that time.”

Trustee Betty Grable, who also serves as president of the Faculty Senate, asked Mangum if she would have had the same concerns if she had received more favorable evaluations.

“I’m not confused,” Mangum said. “I’m asking what the expectation of success is.”

Trustees’ vice chairman Kimberly Moore, who heads the panel’s Special Committee on Presidential Evaluation, appeared perplexed.

“We’ve gone above and beyond addressing any question you’ve had,” she said, recounting an earlier meeting when the president raised concerns about the evaluation process.

Seven of the 13 trustees said Mangum didn't meet expectations in most areas on which she was evaluated. At the same time, four board members said she met or exceeded expectations in eight, nine, 10 and 11 of the 11 areas graded, respectively.

In her self-evaluation, Mangum rated herself as exceeding expectations in four of the 11 categories, including establishing annual goals, educational leadership, financial management and the university's Work Plan.

A way forward

After much back and forth, Lawson told trustees it was time to decide how to move forward.

“I feel we are at an impasse,” he said.

At that stage, trustees became more pointed in their remarks.

“Let’s be honest with ourselves,” said Trustee Robert Woody, who rated Mangum poorly. “This is not working. We need to make a decision and move on.”

Trustee David Lawrence talked about the importance of trust between Mangum and trustees and how it was evidently missing.

A university, he said, needs leadership in the state and outside the state. A leader needs to build relationships with the Legislature, the governor, and “people you don’t like.”

“I don’t think you can succeed without building trust,” Lawrence advised.

Contract status

The contentious discussion about Mangum's evaluation occurred against a backdrop of her lame-duck contract status. Since the BOT took no action on her contract in June, Trustee Thomas Dortch said trustees couldn’t let the uncertainty continue.

“This board has to come to grips with what role we play here,” said Dortch, who unsuccessfully sought a vote to renew Mangum's contract. “My concern is, what’s next? There are a lot of decisions this board must decide for the benefit of Florida A&M University.”

Later, Trustee Harold Mills proposed a one-year contract extension beyond 2017 under which Mangum would work with an executive coach. The motion was seconded by Trustee Jaylen Smith, the acting SGA President who gave Mangum the most favorable evaluation.

Smith later said the contract extension was one way to address the long-term question of Mangum’s tenure.

“We definitely don’t want to have FAMU in limbo with this situation but we have created a space for just that,” he said. “I urge my fellow trustees to consider the students, the true stakeholders.”

Lawson said such a move made no sense.

“We are about to take a vote on an extension with a president who refused to negotiate with us,” Lawson said before the 7-5 vote to defeat the proposal.

Lawson was referring to the June meeting. At the time, he wanted Mangum to give trustees a 45-day extension to decide on her contract, saying it would give new trustees time to familiarize themselves with last year’s evaluation and to give trustees time to suggest amendments to her current contract.

End game

Later Trustee Carter proposed then withdrew a plan to begin deciding how trustees want to find Mangum's successor. Since selecting a president could take a year, Carter said, trustees couldn’t afford to wait until Mangum’s contract expires in April.

Finally, with the BOT members seemingly pulled in different directions, Dortch offered a consensus way forward. Lawson would select a task force that would meet with Mangum to work out a plan. It passed unanimously.

“I think there were a lot of concerns about our future but the trustees were not able to rally around a more immediate direction for the president,” Lawson said following the meeting.

Contract senior writer Byron Dobson at bdobson@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @byrondobson.

Here is a breakdown on the 7 to 5 vote against granting Mangum a one-year extension on her contract:

For:

David Lawrence

Harold Mills

Craig Reed

Nicole Washington

Jaylen Smith

Against:

Bettye Grable

Matthew Carter II

Thomas Dortch

Kelvin Lawson

Kimberly Moore

Robert Woody

Belvin Perry Jr.

Trustee Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Gary McCoy was absent.

Related coverage:

Majority of FAMU trustees say Mangum's performance is subpar

Public records reveal extensive travel by FAMU's Mangum

Mangum's chief of staff's card expenses top $150,000