Category Archives: Administration

The New York Times: Resign, Faculty Tells University President

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — The West Virginia University faculty demanded on Wednesday that the president of the university, Mike Garrison, quit over the awarding of a degree to Gov. Joe Manchin III’s daughter, the second call for his resignation in 10 days.

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Pittsburgh Post Gazette: WVU faculty: President Garrison must go

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — More than 500 West Virginia University faculty members today called for the resignation of President Mike Garrison in the wake of the M.B.A scandal rocking the state’s flagship university.

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Inside Higher Ed: The University of Toledo has fired Crystal Dixon as associate vice president of human resources following an uproar over a column she wrote asserting that gay people can change their sexual orientation and could never be considered “civil rights victims.” In the column, she compared herself as a black woman to a gay person. She wrote: “I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are ‘civil rights victims.’ Here’s why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. I am genetically and biologically a Black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended. Daily, thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle….” An assistant to Dixon’s lawyer said that she was considering suing the university, either on First Amendment or other grounds. A statement from the university defended the dismissal saying that Dixon’s views were “in direct contradiction to university policies and procedures, as well as the institutional core values as defined in our strategic plan, and called into question her continued ability to lead a critical function within the administration as personnel actions or decisions taken in her capacity as associate vice president for human resources could be challenged or placed at risk.”

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Herald-Dispatch: Goodwin will cede WVU board chairmanship

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) _ The chairman of the West Virginia University Board of Governors said Friday that while he won’t quit the board before his appointment ends in 2010, he will hand over the leadership position when that term ends in July.

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Times Herald-Record: Culinary Institute faculty wants board to step in

HYDE PARK — Relations between the faculty and the administration at the Culinary Institute of America have turned bitter.

There appears no end in sight unless the college’s board of trustees step in, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Early last month, the Culinary Teachers Association took the radical step of voting “no confidence” in college President Tim Ryan, a CIA graduate who has been president since 2001.

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The Chronicle: West Virginia U.’s Faculty Senate Calls for President’s Ouster

West Virginia University’s Faculty Senate issued a stinging rebuke to Michael S. Garrison, the university’s president, on Monday by overwhelmingly passing a no-confidence measure that calls on him to resign “for the good of the institution.”

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Lexington Herald-Leader: Cowgill resigns from higher-ed post

Brad Cowgill announced Tuesday that he is resigning as president of the state Council on Postsecondary Education.

The council hired him as its president on April 14, over the objections of Gov. Steve Beshear, who said the council should obey state law by conducting a national search to fill the post.

Cowgill said he has “no desire to wage a battle with the governor over this battle.”

“I do this for one reason: In the foreseeable future, it would be necessary to devote excessive time and effort to unproductive activities, denying me the satisfaction of fruitful work,” Cowgill said in a statement.

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The Chronicle: 2 Top Administrators Quit at West Virginia U., but President Retains Support of Board

Fallout from a politically charged scandal at West Virginia University now includes resignations, with the announcement on Monday that both the provost and dean of the university’s business school are stepping down. But it appears unlikely that the president, Michael S. Garrison, will resign or be removed by the university’s governing board, despite an increasing number of calls for his ouster by faculty members.

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Inside Higher Ed: Degree Scandal at West Virginia Fells Provost

The provost of West Virginia University told deans Sunday that he would resign because of his role in the improper awarding of a master’s degree to the governor’s daughter, saying in a letter to the campus that he regretted that “my one action in ratifying a Dean’s decision in a single situation has had a negative impact on the institution.”

The resignation of Gerald Lang, provost and vice president for academic affairs, was reported first by the Associated Press and is expected to be announced on the campus this morning. Lang and the university’s business dean, R. Stephen Sears, came in for the harshest criticism in the report of an independent panel charged with investigating the university’s decision to hastily award a degree to Heather Bresch without clear or sufficient evidence that she had earned it.

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Inside Higher Ed: In S.C., a Native Son Comes Full Circle

After all, he was born in Denmark, S.C., home of the historically black Episcopal institution, and he even graduated from the college’s affiliated high school in 1962. For the past 15 years, Sellers has driven an hour and 15 minutes — each way, each day — between Denmark, where he still lives, and Columbia, where he is director of the African American studies program at the University of South Carolina. So in a real sense, when his duties commence this fall, he’ll be coming home both figuratively and literally.

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The New York Sun: Bloomberg for President – Of University?

Even though Mayor Bloomberg has put to rest speculation that he would run for president this year, he could find himself answering to “President Bloomberg” just the same.

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Queen’s University: Principal Hitchcock announces resignation

Dr. Karen Hitchcock has announced her decision to withdraw her request for reappointment to a second term as Principal and will be stepping aside, effective April 30, 2008.

In an email to faculty, staff and students this morning, she indicated her wish “to ensure a smooth transition” and conveyed her gratitude to the Queen’s community.

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Globe and Mail: A matter of principal grips Queen’s
‘Unprecedented’ controversy surrounds decision on reappointment of university’s leader

Construction cranes dot the spring sky in Kingston.

Queen’s University is on a multimillion-dollar building binge that is set to last until long after current undergrads collect their degrees.

This weekend, as the countdown to finals begins in earnest for students, the clock is also ticking for the university’s principal, Karen Hitchcock. A special committee is expected to decide early next week whether she will stay for a second five-year term. The outcome of that meeting has the potential to send as big a shockwave through the tight-knit Queen’s community as the blasts required to move the limestone for the new recreation centre.

Dr. Hitchcock, in an interview this week, would not discuss her reappointment or the comments of her critics. “There is nothing to respond to,” she said. “This is a confidential, personnel matter.”

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Las Cruces Sun-News: NMSU memo details apology in e-mail uproar

LAS CRUCES — Larry Olsen, the New Mexico State University administrator accused of e-mailing pornography to a whistle-blowing professor in the College of Health and Social Services, has apologized for doing so, according to a confidential memorandum.

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Washington Square News: Merger called off with Paris university
NYU and AUP mutually go separate ways

Talks between NYU and American University of Paris that would have led to NYU’s absorption of the French university have broken down, officials said.

The two universities mutually agreed “not to pursue the option of assimilation,” AUP Board of Trustees chairman Thomas Hardy wrote in an e-mail to the AUP community late last month.

The site was one of NYU’s earliest efforts at creating a degree-granting branch campus abroad, which has since become a central tenant of the university’s aggressive 25-year expansion plan. As recently as last spring, officials had said the deal was close to completion. But by the fall, officials said the merger was not going as well as expected, and since then, both sides have decided to table the merger, NYU spokesman John Beckman said.

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Charleston Gazette: In wake of charges, Sisk keeps Eastern job
Moorefield school hired official in July

Robert Sisk, charged Monday with deleting computer files and petit larceny, is still interim president of Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College in Moorefield.

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The New York Times: U. of California Board Picks President

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The University of California’s governing board has named Mark Yudof, the University of Texas chancellor, as the next president of the 10-campus system.

Mr. Yudof’s appointment was approved by the Board of Regents on Thursday, a week after a search committee recommended him to succeed Robert Dynes, who has said he plans to leave before June.

A lawyer and expert in free speech, education and constitutional law, Mr. Yudof, 63, spent five years as president of the University of Minnesota before assuming the chancellorship in Texas in 2002.

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The Chronicle News Blog: In California, Yudof Gets the Nod — and an $828,000 Compensation Package

As expected, the University of California’s Board of Regents today voted unanimously to appoint Mark G. Yudof as the system’s next president. Mr. Yudof’s total annual compensation will be $828,000 in his first year on the job, including a $591,084 base salary, supplemental pension payments, and a car allowance, according to a university news release.

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The Chronicle: Pardoned Felon and Former Regent Gets Another Look at Texas A&M U.

The governing board for Texas A&M University at Galveston may soon be joined by a fund raiser with a felonious past — one earned while he was serving on the university system’s Board of Regents.

Ross Margraves Jr., a Houston-based lawyer, was convicted in 1996 on a charge of official misconduct. The felony charge stemmed from his use of a state-owned plane for a round-trip flight with his wife to Baton Rouge, La., at the time of his son’s graduation from Louisiana State University. He billed the state $1,435 for the trip.

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