September 23, 2004

Four members of Glen Helen board resign

By Lauren Heaton

Last week, four members of the Glen Helen Ecology Institute (GHEI) board resigned from their volunt=eer positions at the Glen. Chairman David Hergesheimer and members Al Denman, Donna Denman and Peggy Harris cited various reasons for their decision, but most related to their inability to work effectively with Bob Whyte, the institute’s executive director.

Last spring several board and Glen Helen Association members recommended to Antioch College, which owns the Glen, that the GHEI board enter into mediation with Whyte, to improve communication. After the board engaged in mediation with Whyte in August, Hergesheimer said he saw that mediation “wasn’t going to be useful.”

“It isn’t his decisions so much as it is his treatment of staff, the board and different people that I felt was unnecessary,” he said.

This summer, the director of the Glen Helen Outdoor Education Center, Sue Feller resigned, citing as her main reason her difficulty working with Whyte.

Though he declined to give specific examples, Hergesheimer said it was “obvious” to him that, even after mediation, nothing had changed or was going to change and that working with Whyte would continue to be difficult. The Glen needs a new director, he said, adding that the organization also needs to evaluate itself and discuss how a different leadership structure would better serve the Glen and those who care about its interests.

Both Al and Donna Denman declined to comment about their departure from the board, except to say that each arrived at his and her own decision independently of the other. Donna Denman, who served as the board’s facilities committee chair and was a board member for three years, gave the News a copy of her resignation letter.

“When I agreed to serve on the board… I hoped to establish a good working relationship with the director and to make some contribution to the Glen,” the letter reads. “Since I have been unable to achieve either goal, I’m submitting this letter of resignation from the board, as well as the chair of the facilities committee.”

Al Denman said he needed more time to gather his thoughts and decide what to say publicly about his leaving. The News was unable to reach Peggy Harris before going to press, but Hergesheimer confirmed her resignation.

Whyte said that he “is always concerned when the Glen loses dedicated people,” but that each individual has to make his or her own decision about what is best for the Glen. The current challenges have less to do with him, he said, and more to do with the larger fiscal and organizational hurdles that the Glen has always faced. And in order to resolve those issues, he said, everyone needs to work together to “move forward in a positive way on the strategic planning process.”

GHEI board member Bob Parker also emphasized the need for all the arms of the Glen, including the GHEI board, the executive director, the Glen Helen Association (GHA) board, the Outdoor Education Center and the college, to identify common goals and collaborate more effectively. In the past, many of these groups have operated independently of each other, which often causes disorganization and confusion, he said.

Whyte has unified several aspects of the Glen’s operation, Parker said, referring to the new OEC director Susan Kamins, volunteer coordinator Beth Krisko and Whyte, who work together in a collaborative way.

“We haven’t had an opportunity like this to bring the organization together in a programmatic way in a long time,” Parker said. “That’s been lacking for quite some time, and you have to give Bob credit for that.”

Board member David Goodwin also feels Whyte has been good for the Glen because he focuses on preparing for the future, he said. He has also seen improvements in Whyte’s management style in a short period of time and feels the mediation services have been productive, he said.

The leadership structure the college established for the Glen needs clarification, both Whyte and Parker agreed. The GHEI board, for example, is purely an advisory board. Its role is to suggest, recommend and counsel the executive director, but not to make the final decisions, Parker said.

Antioch University’s Board of Trustees defined the leadership roles, and if people disagree with the current structure, they “need to make a recommendation to the trustees,” Whyte said. In the meantime, volunteers need a better understanding of their interior and exterior roles at the Glen, he suggested.

Interim Antioch College President Rick Jurasek reiterated Whyte’s emphasis on the importance of using the strategic planning process to evaluate whether the Glen’s leadership structure is working. The college is aware of the concerns board members and others have about Whyte’s leadership, especially after a Glen-wide evaluation process of Whyte that took place this spring.

Jurasek said he has already seen improvements in Whyte’s performance as a result of the evaluation. However, Jurasek would not be specific about the improvements because, he said, “that gets too close to an employee’s performance review.”

“The system has been giving feedback to the director since the evaluation, and the director will be evaluated again this spring,” he said. “I have seen improvements and change, and as the year unfolds we’ll determine the depth and character and durability of the improvements.”

Hergesheimer said that he has decided that the current leadership structure isn’t working and needs to change. Perhaps the director should be appointed by the GHEI board, he said, and would answer to the board, giving the board more authority.

The Glen Helen Association, which has 600 members, serves as a fundraising arm for the Glen, but has a history of acting independently, said Hergesheimer, who believes the group should be closely connected to the director. Perhaps there shouldn’t be a director of the Ecology Institute, he suggested.

Antioch College owns the Glen but doesn’t have enough resources to devote to its management, Hergesheimer said, but the college is also unlikely to want to give up control of the Glen to community members. However, he believes that if the college wants to control the Glen, it should be more involved and take responsibility for its charge.

“The college is certainly aware of the situation, but they’re just taking a ‘wait and see’ attitude,” he said. “But they’re in a different relationship with Bob, so I guess it’s easier for them to wait and see than for people who are dealing with him day in and day out.”

“I’d say it’s time to try a different model of how the Glen should be organized and run,” he said.

Whyte doesn’t necessarily disagree. He is eager to start on the strategic planning process this fall, when Glen staff, board, members and the public will have a chance to identify the Glen’s challenges and create a plan to meet the Glen’s needs, he said. The plan will include how to improve the Glen’s organizational structure and “better define all of our roles, which will help me do a better job,” he said.

Whyte believes that his job building community efforts is in the Glen’s best interest, but said he feels a great deal of responsibility is handed to the director. If an assistant director were hired, that person might help relieve some of his duties, and take charge of development and fundraising issues, he said.

Though a portion of the GHEI board cannot work under the current structure, there are still a dozen board members who remain with the organization. The board’s vice chairwoman, Gina Paget, will assume the responsibilities of chair until the board can make a recommendation to Antioch for a new chair.

Paget expressed regret about the loss of exceptional board members, but said she is hopeful that the Glen’s leaders can work out their differences.

Several board members voiced hope about the positive things Whyte can offer to shape a stable future for the Glen.

“This guy [Whyte] has brought the Glen a long way over the last few years, he’s a heck of a good environmental educator, and we really need to support him,” Goodwin said. “You just got to think in this community, with so many people who care about the place so damn much, that it’s got to work out.”