Board of Trustees (BOT)

Oakland's Board of Trustees is the school's board of control. Its members are appointed by the governor of Michigan. The board has authority to approve new colleges, departments, schools and majors. It also holds authority over all financial decisions affecting the university including but not limited to the general fund budget, auxiliary services like housing and athletics, and the approval of maintenance and construction projects.

An important note is that most of the buildings are paid for with state bonds, but the board must agree to take on the debt.

Because of the nature of what the board does, this is an enormously important beat.

Important information:

Website: www.oakland.edu/bot This will get you to meeting information. Meetings are usually held monthly either in the Elliott Hall auditorium or the Anton Frankel Center behind the Macomb University Center in Mount Clemens.

Contact Information:

Victor Zambardi: 248-370-3112; zambardi@oakland.edu (vice president for legal affairs, general counsel and secretary to the Board of Trustees) He's listed as the official contact person, but I've never actually spoken to him. You're better off going through Ted or Dave.

John Beaghan: 248-370-2445, beaghan@oakland.edu; (VP of finance and administration) Most of the time when you contact him it goes through Ted or Dave.

Ted Montgomery: 248-370-4346, tmontgom@Oakland.edu

David Groves: 248-370-2759, Groves@Oakland.edu