Two listening sessions on Tuesday gave the Institutions of Higher Learning board much to ponder, following the pleas and statements from faculty, staff, students and alumni.
Glenn Boyce, college board commissioner, was a member of the panel for both sessions and met with the campus search committee on Monday.
“It’s been a great couple of days up here,” Boyce said. “We’ve got a really good feel for what the next chancellor should look like.”
Of the two, the afternoon meeting encouraged more participation from crowd and brought many points to the surface. Douglass Sullivan-González, dean of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, initiated perhaps the most tense subject the meeting would cover, saying the trust deficit between the university and the college board was a rift that left both parties on shaky ground.
Boyce said the board recognizes this trust issue and planned to work towards rebuilding.
“I really believe that apart of any great process is the ability to rebuild trust,” Boyce said. “We can rebuild that trust all along the way. One of the ways you rebuild trust is, you do two things: you listen wisely and you communicate effectively. You become incredibly transparent.”
Boyce said this transparency meant being open to all questions and open for discussion.
“It doesn’t mean everybody is always going to agree,” Boyce said. “It means we’re going to have enough respect that we will always respond to each other.”
Sullivan-González urged the board to return to basics when choosing a chancellor. He asked them to ensure the candidates had experience leading a university. The University of Mississippi, he said, does not face in-state competition but rather that of international competitors.
“Our competition is not Mississippi,” Sullivan-González said. “It’s Beijing.”
On this front, Sullivan-González said the university has made considerable progress and said the new chancellor must be able to sustain that momentum.
Oliver Dinius, vice-chair of the faculty senate, spoke to this issue.
“There are a lot of things we’ve started that have been successful,” Dinius said. “There is some concern that we will lose that momentum.”
Kirsten Dellinger, the chair of sociology, urged the board to seek ethical and gender diversity in the pool of candidates.
Jeffery Jackson, a sociology professor, and Alexandros Vasiossivvopoulos, graduate student and president of graduate student council, spoke on the need for recognition of institutional research and the next chancellor’s position as an leader for the academic community.
“We can do a lot better as a campus if we recognize the research on campus,” Jackson said. “I think we have a lot of untapped potential across the campus.”
Alice Clark, vice chancellor for research and sponsored programs, was involved with the last chancellor search in 2009. She said the process was generally the same as her previous work, and that she was pleased with the advisory board’s work so far.
Rod Bridges, Associated Student Body president, said though the meeting was greatly beneficial, he believed there was a lack of student participation in this session. He said he hoped students would participate further in the fall.
The next listening sessions are August 20 at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and August 27 on the Oxford campus.
Alan Perry, board search committee chair and president of the Institutes of Higher Learning board, gave two tentative dates in the session that were previously undetermined. If all goes smoothly, Perry said he hopes to close the nomination portion on Sept. 1 and have a recommended candidate ready to introduce to the university on Dec. 1, just three months later.
Perry introduced Bill Funk, the search consultant for this process in the morning session with alumni. Funk has worked with more than 400 universities in presidential searches, Perry said.
“My job is to do everything possible to develop as strong and as deep a pool (of candidates) as possible,” Funk said.
Funk said there are many schools across the nation of Ole Miss’s caliber that are also looking for presidents, and that competition in this area is severe.
Commissioner Glen Boyce said one of the things he recognized above all else on this trip is the university’s ability to push forward.
“The leadership skill it takes to move a school that is poised for the next level are unique in some respects,” Boyce said. “That is what we are looking for, somebody with proven ability that understands that this school has done a beautiful job. We don’t need someone to come in and make massive changes. We need someone who is in tune with the university and will help it move it to the next level.”
