The Penn State Board of Trustees has long been the ultimate administrative body of the university. Now, a national organization is asking the board to show that it's doing the job right.

On Jan. 17, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) released "Statement on Board Accountability," calling for university boards nationwide to pursue transparency and responsibility in their standards, policies and finances. Penn State is a member of the AGB.

Steve Garban, vice chairman of the Penn State Board of Trustees, said he had not seen the statement but defended the board's conduct.

"We're accountable," Garban said. "Our board meetings are open, we approve budgets in open meetings."

Citing increased governmental scrutiny and the recent rise in lawsuits, the statement said university boards must "reaffirm ... core principles of board accountability and responsibility."

"Lapses and failures in the integrity and governance of certain participants in the nonprofit and higher education communities ... have raised troubling questions," the statement read.

The statement mentioned the importance of retaining responsibility for the university's operation while acknowledging the role of faculty and staff.

Paula Ammerman, director of the Office of the Board of Trustees, said day-to-day operations are left to Penn State President Graham Spanier and his staff, who report regularly on the university's operation.

"[The board] has not abdicated any responsibility," she said.

The statement also addressed presidential salaries. American University brought salaries to the forefront when its board admitted that only a few trustees knew the specifics of the university's recently fired president's compensation plan.

"The president's salary is released to all the members of the board," Ammerman said. Penn State is not legally required to release faculty salaries to the public, although the university disclosed President Spanier's salary of $545,016 earlier this year to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

University Park Undergraduate Association President Jay Chamberlin said he has faith in the board.

"I think they're doing a decent job," he said. "That's not saying there's not room for improvement, but for the most part they do a good job being accountable."

Nick Stathes, president of the Undergraduate Student Government, painted a different picture.

"My experience with the board of trustees was that it seemed as though they didn't ask the right questions to those individuals who presented things to them," he said. "They just accepted things at face value and weren't very interested in learning. Students are losing a lot of the traditional rights that we used to have, and I haven't seen a lot of debate in the board about this."

Penn State has been criticized in the past for not fully disclosing its budget, a claim Ammerman disputes.

"The budget is an open budget," she said. "It's viewable online."

Chamberlin agreed, saying the online budget gives a broad impression of the university's finances.

"You can get a pretty general idea of what Penn State is spending its money on," he said. Although, he added, "you don't get to see how much a department is spending on pencils."

Stathes disagreed, saying the vagueness of Penn State's disclosed budget has held the university back from state appropriations. "Legislators have told me it's difficult to allocate more money to Penn State because it's difficult for their constituents to scrutinize the budget," he said. "[The university] isn't completely open with how it's spending."

The statement from the AGB acknowledged the overall performance of the nation's governing boards "remains commendable," and Garban agreed. "In the public sector, there's an accountability that I think is acceptable, with Penn State in particular," he said.