Muleskinner

Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: News

Media Credit: William Hacker: Muleskinner Who will be the University's next president? The Board of Governors and the Presidential Search Advisory Committee will come to a compromise to make the final decision.

Media Credit: Lora Powell: Muleskinner This week's front page of The Muleskinner.

The next president of UCM must be someone who can build a sense of community, calm controversy and not be afraid to be unpopular, according to Michael Wright, dean of the College of Education and head of the Presidential Search Committee.

Speaking from his own point of view and not an overall representative of the 20-person committee, Wright said due to the large budget cuts facing Missouri higher education, the ideal candidate for president would be a business-minded individual as well as someone who understands academic procedure.

"[The University] is a unique enterprise; it is not like a business," Wright said. "But that doesn't mean we don't have to make responsible business decisions."

The decisions Wright refers to is his assumption that in the next two to three years, institutions of higher education may face as much as a 20 percent cut in state funds. Even if the Missouri economy rebounds within the next year, Wright said, higher education may still be a year or two behind.

"A person who comes into this position is going to have to make decisions that will not be popular," Wright said. "There is no way you are going to close programs or eliminate positions and be popular. With a cut of that magnitude, it's inevitable."

After speaking with several campus constituent groups, Wright said the campus community is extremely open-minded to the president being either a business person or an academic.

The president must also be someone who adheres to the University's vision statement, which can be adapted in a number of ways. In 2006, the Board of Governors approved UCM's vision statement, drafted by President Aaron Podolefsky, which states "The University of Central Missouri aspires to be a nationally recognized, comprehensive university that delivers a world-class university education by providing a small-college learning environment coupled with large-university opportunities."

Wright said that UCM fulfills this vision in a number of ways.

"We're not real elitist like Truman or someone else in that we have programs that are geared toward providing a solid foundation in liberal arts, but coupled with programs that lead to people obtaining successful careers," Wright said.

Another key part of fulfilling the University's vision is to have good political relations in Jefferson City, Mo. and Washington, D.C. and be able to build lasting relationships with donors to the UCM Foundation. Because he anticipates the state funding for higher education to continue to shrink, it is important for a president to build solid financial allies.

Wright said we are fortunate that we have Sen. David Pearce serving as member of the education committee in Missouri. Because he is the Warrensburg representative, the University instantly has a good reputation with someone in state government. However, donor relationships also play a large role in keeping the institution afloat.

"You always have these public alumni receptions, but those don't really generate the Foundation money," Wright said. "That's generated by establishing one-on-one relationships. That's an element that is really important in today's world."

Another important qualifying factor for a presidential candidate is to be able to calm controversy in the campus community.

"Right now there is a lot of controversy on our campus; it has been widely publicized," Wright said. "The challenge of bringing people together and building a team should not be underestimated."

Applications for the presidential position were due to the search consultant Monday and the Search Committee will meet March 12 to narrow down the list of candidates to about seven. In case a consensus cannot be met in that meeting, a follow-up meeting has been scheduled for March 24. This way, the Search Committee will be able to give its recommendations to the Board of Governors by its March 25 meeting.

"They will have their list of most promising candidates and we will get together after March 25 and put the two lists together," Wright said. "Where the lists overlap, those are the people we would be looking at for initial interviews."

The initial interviews, or "airport interviews," will be conducted in an undisclosed off-campus location. After the list is narrowed to the final two to three candidates, those individuals will be brought to UCM for on-campus public forums.

"My perspective on the future is not losing sight of where we've been, but at the same time recognizing that we have a solid foundation that we've built in the state and people look to Central to provide leadership," Wright said.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools