Want To Be A Frequent Flyer? Auburn University Has An Opening For A New Trustee!

by: countrycat

Fri Aug 07, 2009 at 16:26:25 PM CDT

Auburn University is accepting applications for an opening on its frequent flyer club board of trustees!

Applicants must be a resident of the district and less than 70 years old at their time of appointment.

The Auburn Board consists of one trustee from each congressional district as they were constituted in 1961, a trustee representing Lee County, three at-large trustees and the governor as an ex-officio member.

Candidates can submit applications to Auburn University Trustee Selection Committee, Attn: Grant Davis, 105 Samford Hall, Auburn, AL 36849.

Now kids, this is a cushy gig.  As you may remember, back in March, the Huntsville Times reported that the university had spent almost half a million dollars flying trustees and university officials around the country (including good old Tunica, MS) and around the state (most notably from Auburn to BIRMINGHAM - 14 trips) on private jets.  Most of which belonged to the athletic department.

Well hell, at least some department at the school is well-fixed for funds.  Because, as a PACT parent, it's hard for me to keep from gagging when university officials poor mouth about funding and tuition, when we know that they spend more time in the air than the average migratory bird.

I'm thinking that I should apply!  As an almuna, I could bring an interesting perspective to this whole issue.  AND, I've served on numerous statewide boards and never expected to be flown to meetings - or even be reimbursed for travel expenses.  Maybe Auburn can take my share of the flight $ and apply it to my daughter's tuition in 2012.

Follow me on the flip for an interesting story about this report that explains a lot about the mostly sorry state of journalism in Alabama.

Auburn Trustees and Officials Are Flying High: $492,640 Spent on Private Jets

by: countrycat

Mon Mar 30, 2009 at 11:32:10 AM CDT

Remember when university officials at both Auburn and Alabama rebuffed the PACT board's requests for tuition assistance? Their excuse was quite legitimate: legislative funding cuts have left them strapped for funds and requiring steep tuition hikes for students.

But Huntsville Times reporter, Bob Lowry, (whose PACT reporting has made him one of my favorite Alabama journalists) seems to have uncovered another issue:  Auburn University officials and trustees' jet-setting ways have cost the university almost half a million dollars during the 2008-08 fiscal year.

Auburn University spent nearly $500,000 flying its administrators and board of trustee members on its two corporate jets during the past fiscal year, records show.

The University of Alabama spent considerably less during the same period - $30,500 - for flights on its lone jet, and trustees rarely were aboard.

Lowry's article contains a full page of flight logs from both Alabama and Auburn. 

Perusing them last night, I was blown away by some of the descriptions, destinations, and charges.  For instance, on October 9, 2007, Auburn University spent $4747 to fly "unidentified passengers" to Tunica, MS.

TUNICA?  For what?  Perhaps this is the new funding strategy for Auburn's development staff.  Maybe the slots and craps tables look like more of a sure thing than the Alabama legislature.  But darn, couldn't they at least have done their gambling in Alabama?

Almost as entertaining as the descriptions of the flights is the explanation by Auburn spokesman, Mike Clardy, for the numerous private flights instead of commercial:

Clardy said it's more practical for the university to use its own jets even though commercial travel through the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is less than 90 minutes from Auburn and the Montgomery Regional Airport is only an hour away.

He noted that traveling through Atlanta also involves a time zone change. 

"...involves a time zone change." Remember kids: this is a major university in the United States. 

More examples on the flip....