Lack of student representation at the third and final Campus Listening Sessions held by the Board Search Committee on Thursday was a disappointment to the committee, faculty and student leaders on campus.
Rod Bridges Associated Student Body president, said a lack of student representation could lead to a lack of input in a very important, university-wide process.
“I think the show of students that aren’t here is disappointing for me, so I’m going to use this time to ask, you know, what can we do to make sure that the students, all 24,000, are gonna be able to say something?” Bridges said. “I think that we did a decent job of publicizing the event. I think students know that they’ve not got the opportunity to share their concerns, but I think this is a poor representation.”
After an open discussion between Bridges and various board members, board search committee member Glenn Boyce decided the online survey, which is part of the Chancellor Search website scheduled to be closed at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, would be extended one more week. The purpose of the survey is to give all outside parties a chance to communicate to the committee their concerns without having to attend a listening session.
The deadline for chancellor search applicants is September 1, 2015 and the board is scheduled to make their final decision sometime in December.
The committee chairman Alan Perry was not at the sessions due to previously scheduled vacation plans. Ford Dye of Oxford took Perry’s place and spoke on behalf of the committee.
“We always want more turnout, but we got some good information and I’m hoping also the students, faculty and alumni realize there’s online opportunities to contribute. And all that information we compile and we look at it,” Dye said.
“Everything we got today is helpful and obviously we would’ve liked to have more of a turnout.”
Because of the small student presence, those who attended were given ample opportunity to speak. Senior mechanical engineering major Anne Marie DeLee spoke in front of the committee about what she wants out of the new chancellor.
“As we go on to picking a new chancellor, I, for one, am for the small town college feel. One of the reasons I picked Ole Miss is because I felt like this was a family,” DeLee said. “I was born and raised in Mississippi but I was actually looking at attending college out of state— but then that small town feel, that family feel is what brought me to Ole Miss. That is something I’m concerned about us losing, so I would love for us to find a chancellor that will enable us to keep that feel.”
Bridges told the committee that whether they agree on an issue, the students who get behind that issue have passion.
“I want people to take that momentum into choosing a new chancellor, and I’m not seeing that,” Bridges said.
To make up for lack of student representation, Bridges invited the committee to attend a student organization round table discussion on the search for the new chancellor to be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday September 2 in room 209 of Bishop Hall. There was no discussion of whether the committee would attend.
“I think we’re gonna have an excellent candidate pool,” said Dye. “I’m very optimistic about the process.”
