Dear College Community, The following is an affidavit of events that will be submitted to support injunctions against Mike Nuesser and Joan LaVoy which I feel you need to be informed about due to the recent email from your President: Over the last few months, we have experienced the worst trauma and my hopes for getting the college off of probationary status have waned and then people that love the college have bolstered my faith. Weekly, staffs have been getting mass emails from protesters and former employees which have further traumatized them. Weekly, emails, “special meetings”, and phone calls have come in from Mike Nuesser and Joan LaVoy that are upsetting and do not fully support your President or your college as board members should in all respect be doing. Things have been said about me and the people we work with that have been harmful as well as perpetuated hate. Monday was my 19th anniversary. Tuesday I was forwarded the email attached at the end of this email from Joan LaVoy that her and Mike Nuesser were holding a “special meeting” noting that it did not have to be publicized, would be held in an off-site location that was not identified to myself, the President of your college, or to the community at large, did not consist of a quorum, and did not follow Minnesota Open Meeting Laws. Thursday, my grandson had to undergo surgery and we almost lost him. Yesterday was my birthday and at 8:00 PM last night I was informed that Joan and Mike had retained an attorney, Zenas Beuar. Zenas contacted the College’s Attorney, Shirley Caine, to inform the College that your President was terminated and that the police would be there to remove him. Friday, I receive an email from your President that he was being terminated. This has been only one week of many over the summer that we have all had to endure. I want to preface my note to you on what I feel a board member should be, ideally, by saying they should be in support of and advocate for you and your college. They in no way should be hindering the growth and forward movement of the college during times between the five meetings we are required to have during the year. Special meetings are identified in our by-laws, but should also correlate with Minnesota Open Meeting Laws due to the fact that we are subject Higher Learning Commission standards as well as federal and state funding sources. With all that being said, the Board should not interfere at this time in anyway with the critical nature of accreditation that your college is in due to it being on probation which can easily turn into Show Cause and/or removal of Accreditation Status. I want to apologize for the actions recently taken by Mike Nuesser and Joan LaVoy and in no way support their actions and will continue to support you and your need to heal and to move forward. Erma J. Vizenor, the Chief of this Nation, has also provided a legal opinion that the Tribe maintains this same stance which was much appreciated. I want to summarize what has occurred and will submit this to any court action as well as to the Higher Learning Commission if further action is taken against the President of your College: On June 3rd, a special meeting was called to be held at the college. Due to the protest, the President moved the meeting to the Shooting Star. At this meeting, Mike Nuesser accused me of moving the meeting to the Shooting Star, accused me of holding back Council of Trustee Applications (re: Applications that were submitted to Joan LaVoy Committee which I was not a part of and not a member of the Board at that time), and told the President that the college needed to hire an attorney which he did the following week in retaining Shirley Caine. When I asked Joan LaVoy outside of the meeting what Mike was talking about concerning the applications, she looked at me and said, “Oh, he was just talking about Kim Anderson’s application!). During this same conversation, outside of the meeting, I informed her that Mike Nuesser released confidential information to Mike Price, an applicant for the President, about the search process detailing discussions that were held in committee when applications were being reviewed. Joan then repeated to me that it was wrong. Prior to this meeting, I addressed the fact to Mike Nuesser and asked him if he released information from the search process and he admitted he had, but he also said at the end, “I told Mike Price that I was the one who removed his name from the search process.) These outside conversations held by Mike Neusser with an applicant for President violated any understanding of confidentiality and my confidence in holding Executive Sessions or “Special Meetings” with Mike Nuesser present. From that point forward, I have requested that we hold to Minnesota Open Meeting Laws which detail what can be held and said in meetings. At this time of the meeting on June 3, 2013, there was a full quorum with Jeff Bisek present (Jeff resigned right after this meeting). In between meetings, the President and myself have been subjected to numerous emails from Mike Nuesser and Joan LaVoy violating Minnesota Open Meeting Laws which indicate that no discussions or decisions are to be made by email between board members concerning college business. I then had an email address created by Vern Bishop and asked that further communication cease to my private email and again noted to Mike Nuesser and Joan LaVoy that any discussions via email, in groups of three or more, and outside of formal meetings violate the Minnesota Open Meeting Law. I was tired of the daily accusations and allegations at this point and felt that both individuals were being gullible at best to rumors that were being started and passed on to them which does not make for good board member standards of conduct or maintain a level of ethical nature needed to lead your college due to the fact that they acted upon what was being heard on a daily basis. I was then contacted by Mike Nuesser while I was in California and asked to resign. I asked him again if he released the information to Mike Price. He indicated that he did. He then told me that he had pages of information against me and that he could do one of two things if I did not resign, that was to resign himself or to present a motion to remove me at the next meeting. Prior to this call, I was informed by President Pellegrino that Mike Nuesser had gone to the college that Thursday and confronted him and again told him he better get a lawyer. The continuous actions of Mr. Nuesser have culminated in a day to day slate of accusations that do not promote or support the growth of this college and has caused me great distress not only as a woman but also as an individual who holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education. All of this I am telling you, due to what has been said and what is believed and what has caused me and my family harm in this community. The following meeting on July 9th, 2013 was held at the Administrative Building and a regular schedule meeting, one of five, that was to be held according to our by-laws. Board Members present included Mike Nuesser, Joan LaVoy, and myself. Due to Lois Olson not being present, a meeting could not be held in full quorum. I then asked Joan LaVoy and Mike Neuser if we should even proceed with the meeting, we all agreed that due to a lack of a quorum of the seven voting members, no meeting could be held according to the Council of Trustees By-Laws. President Pellegrino then recommended that it be informational. Numerous persons were in attendance as you all know and a wonderful presentation of what is happening at this college was submitted. Mike Neuser then got up at the end of the meeting and wanted to discuss the hiring of an attorney and confronted me, accused me, of hiring an attorney. I then told him to never talk to me like that again as you have all witnessed. Joan LaVoy then noted that there was a conflict of interest having Shirley Caine as attorney and as an instructor. I then noted to Joan that having Mike Nuesser and herself on the board were also a conflict of interest due to them being employed with the Parent Company (i.e. The White Earth Reservation Tribal Council) and showed everyone present the Higher Learning Commission Assumed Practices (Attached). Joan and Mike both read the document along with everyone else, but did not act to recuse themselves. Joan then said she felt very uncomfortable and the meeting was adjourned. Due to the fact, that the Assumed practices within the Criteria for Accreditation, for Integrity and Responsible Conduct, Section 8, states, “The governing board and its executive committee, if it has one, include some “public” members. Public members have no significant administrative position or any ownership interests in any of the following: the institution itself; a parent, ultimate parent or firm substantially involved with one of the above organization.” a letter was then sent to both Mike Nuesser and Joan LaVoy to recuse themselves or to resign due to the conflict of interest. The continual day-to-day interference that was occurring by both Mike Nuesser and Joan LaVoy do not support the HLC findings that indicate Council of Trustees must be able to effectively promote effective leadership and support collaborative processes that enable the institution to fulfill its mission.” I believe, as someone who has attempted to restrain the actions of these two individuals, that their actions have been divisive, unsupportive, not collaborative, and harmful at best to the college and its mission. In the best interest of this college, both individuals need to resign or recuse themselves from further impacting the college and its future. To stabilize the Board, the President and I reached out to members of the community, tribal and other, to temporarily serve on the Board until a resolution of the Assumed Practices issue could be resolved and the By-Laws rewritten to meet the new standards and expectations set out by the Higher Learning Commission. All that were invited are not employees of the White Earth Reservation Tribal Council which was critical to these factors. After the July 9th, 2013 informational meeting, several actions began to take place by the two individuals, Mike Nuesser and Joan LaVoy. From my understanding, another special meeting was held on August 14, 2013 called by Mike Nuesser, Joan LaVoy, and I believe in attendance, Lois Olson. This meeting was not publicized, would be held in an off-site location that was not identified to myself, the President of your college, or to the community at large, did not consist of a quorum, and did not follow Minnesota Open Meeting Laws. Without a quorum of the seven voting members, Joan LaVoy and Micheal Neusser transacted a meeting that removed the President and from my understanding me. Numerous allegations were made against me, without notice or right to protect myself. At this time, I was in California. This again, was a meeting held improperly and without a quorum. With all respect, Lois Olson is an elder in our community. She has not attended any meetings since my being on Council starting in January. However, the last two “special meetings” she has supposedly attended and that greatly concerns me due to the political nature of the meetings. It is critical that board members participate in regular meetings which have not been the case. I understand Lois has been sick and I feel for her. But to participate in “special meetings” and not regular schedule and critical meetings for the college, is not appropriate at any level due to not having an intimate understanding of issues that are presented in our regular meetings. Lois has not been removed from the board. She is not an employee of the parent company. Now whether Mike and Joan are still considered on the board, the fact remains that the new standards of practice require them to recuse themselves or resign. The college need to move forward with a healthy collaborative board. Please support your President and each other during this time. If the President is removed, be assured that it will impact not only the our students, the college, its already weak standing in the community, but also its funding. Please contact me if you need further clarification. With great respect for your continued support of the students and college, Betsy McDougall
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 15:52:54 +0000
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