Board
Considers Finalists
after Campus Visits
The
NMU Board
of Trustees is expected to select Northern’s 12 th president – possibly
before the end of March – from among four
finalists recommended by the search advisory committee. The candidates
visited Marquette the week of Feb. 23 to meet with campus and community
groups. Trustees are in the process of verifying credentials, considering
qualifications and engaging in follow-up interviews before making
an announcement. Timing of the decision could be an important factor.
Each of the finalists is in contention for the top administrative
post at other schools.
The
finalists (in alphabetical order) are:
John
Byrd
Current
Position: Executive Vice President at the University
of Evansville
in Indiana
Enrollment:
2,100
Education:
Ph.D. in health education, Southern Illinois University; M.Ed. in
health education and B.S. in physical education, University
of Missouri
, Columbia
.
Why
he is interested in NMU: “I
am interested in this opportunity because of Northern
Michigan
University
’s great academic reputation
and its scale. The university is large enough that it can provide
a lot of valuable programs and services for students, but it is
small enough to give them personal attention. It is also an institution
on the move. It responded to the closing of Sawyer Air Force Base.
It completed a successful comprehensive fundraising campaign. NMU
seems to be a university that accepts change while remaining committed
to quality.”
The
University
of Evansville
is a private, United Methodist-related institution. Byrd previously
worked at the University of Southern Indiana, a public university.
“The combination of both
experiences has prepared me well for this position. I understand
the need to recruit and raise funds very aggressively because private
colleges rely on these strategies. I am also familiar with the operations
of a public university. Southern
Indiana has an enrollment very
similar to Northern Michigan
– about 9,700 students – so
it would be a comfortable fit.”
On
Northern’s comprehensive university and community college functions:
“In Indiana
, there is only one two-year
school in the state. There is a technical college system, but none
of the colleges in that system award associate degrees. The University
of Southern
Indiana did not offer vocational
programs like Northern, but it played a similar role in admitting
entry-level students or those seeking an AA or AS degree.”
Raymond
Cross
Current
Position: President, Morrisville State
College , New
York
Enrollment:
3,400
Education:
Ph.D. in college and university administration, Michigan
State
University
; M.S. in industrial education,
Central Michigan
University
; and B.S. in technical education,
Ferris State
University
.
Why
he is interested in NMU: I
believe in the importance of regional, liberal arts universities
and integrating that philosophy into career and professional programs.
In this era of technology, when people are making decisions quickly,
critical-thinking skills are extremely valuable. … NMU’s location
and relative isolation are strengths, especially when safety is
the number one priority for parents of college students. I also
like the high-tech approach and the potential to build on that.
Morrisville
is part of the State
University
of New
York (SUNY) system.
“ There is something attractive
about the autonomy of institutions in Michigan
. If you have a strong vision
shared by faculty and staff and endorsed by the university’s board,
it is easier to move forward with strategic initiatives. A state
system can be more stagnant in this regard … I work with legislators
constantly in Morrisville, but we focus on five from our area and
we are fortunate to have a couple of key committee members. Here
at NMU, it would require a broader approach – not just working with
local legislators but spending time in Lansing
as the university’s chief lobbyist.”
Morrisville
– like NMU – is a ThinkPad university. The institution received
national attention this fall when it replaced all telephones in
the residence halls with cell phones for each student. The phones
offer long distance, a walkie-talkie feature, and free local calls.
“That was the third phase
of our effort to develop a totally digital campus. In the fourth
phase, the function of the cell phones will expand so that they
will ultimately replace student ID cards and debit cards. The fifth
phase will focus on ways to use the cell phones to enhance safety
and security.”
John
Fallon, III
Current
Position: President, State University
of New
York at Potsdam
Enrollment:
4,500
Education: Ph.D. in educational administration/higher education
from Michigan State
University
; M.A. in educational administration
from NMU; and a B.S. in education from Western
Michigan
University
.
Why
he is interested in NMU :
“It is a combination of my love for the Upper
Peninsula , the potential to
lead a university that has been a portal of opportunity for my family
and friends, and the value that Michigan
places on education. All of
my education was in Michigan
– from Gwinn to East
Lansing . I also worked at Saginaw
Valley
for several years. Through that
experience, I developed a strong appreciation for the autonomy enjoyed
by the state’s public universities and I became well acquainted
with the ins and outs of the legislative system.”
In an effort to increase enrollment, Potsdam adopted an expanded,
international focus with Canadian and Korean initiatives. “We
were able to attract a significant number of Canadian students when
they did away with grade 13 in Ottawa . We reaped the benefits of
that. We offer satellite programs in Ottawa and we also established
transfer agreements with a couple of two-year colleges – St. Lawrence
College in Kingston , which has an enrollment of about 8,000, and
Algonquin in Ottawa , which has
15,000. Our Korean initiative features an annual cohort of students
for either our ESL program or to work toward a master of science
degree in teacher education.”
Fallon
said he supports innovative learning opportunities such as the Winterim
program implemented at Potsdam . “Winterim
is a unique initiative that takes place between the fall and winter
semesters. Instead of going on break, some students enroll in campus-based
courses or in travel-abroad programs. For example, students will
accompany a professor to Hanoi to learn about the Vietnam War, or
they might travel to London to study British theater.”
Les
Wong
Current
Position: Vice President for Academic Affairs, Valley
City State University , North
Dakota
Enrollment:
1,000
Education:
Ph.D. in educational psychology from Washington
State
University
; M.S. in experimental psychology;
and a B.A. in psychology from Gonzaga
University
.
Why
he is interested in NMU: “
Northern Michigan
has a unique responsibility as the provider of academic programs
ranging from the two-year level to the graduate level. Its role
in meeting the diverse educational needs of the Upper
Peninsula and wider region is
very attractive to me. I am also enamored with the ethic of Midwest
communities. … My sense of the
talent and resourcefulness of the people on this campus has been
confirmed during my visit.”
VCSU
was the second campus in the nation to implement a 100 percent laptop
computer initiative. The school also requires students to develop
multi-media CD portfolios. “These
are powerful testaments to student learning and an innovative curriculum.
They demonstrate that students can respond to global issues and
think critically. That is what technology in education is all about.
It’s not why you do something, but how you do
something. Technology should enhance critical thinking and the overall
learning experience. If it diverts from that, I would question its
effectiveness. Technology is not the reason a university is great,
but it can serve as the cornerstone for taking the curriculum to
the next step.”
Wong
previously worked at the Evergreen State College in Colorado, which
has established a reputation for team teaching and an interdisciplinary
approach to education. “I
believe in and have seen the benefits of interdisciplinary work.
It is sometimes hard for faculty to let go of traditional territorial
bounds, but for those who do, the teaching experience is outstanding.
Campuses like Northern and Evergreen – where this is the norm –
have a unique opportunity to look outward to the human condition
and to seek a teaching and learning model than can obtain effects
that are quite different and exciting.”
Individual
profiles with expanded details on their professional backgrounds
can be found at www.nmu.edu/president/candidates.htm
.
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