Interim president picked
The name will be confirmed at a news conference today.
April 6, 2007
ROLLA — The UM system Board of Curators appointed on Wednesday night an interim system president, who will temporarily take the place of outgoing President Elson Floyd, UM system spokesman Scott Charton said.
Floyd will stay in an advisory capacity until the end of April.
According to the Associated Press, curators appointed Gordon Lamb, but both Floyd and Maria Kerford, student representative to the Board of Curators, declined to confirm the name of the person selected.
Board Chairman Don Walsworth will hold a news conference today to announce the appointee.
According to the Associated Press, Gordon is a higher education consultant for EFL Associates and also served as interim chancellor at UM-Kansas City.
The board also voted on Thursday to add two new members to the presidential search committee, one graduate and one from extension. This was a response to suggestions from six public forums about the search for a new president.
Also during the meeting, the board discussed intellectual pluralism, a topic that has been in higher education news since Emily Brooker, a Missouri State University graduate, filed a lawsuit stating that a professor gave her a lower grade for refusing to sign a petition.
Stephen Lehmkule, senior vice president for Academic Affairs, said two areas identified for improvement are student complaints and faculty strategies. The curators said in the discussion they want to be sure students know they can complain and the route they should take to do so.
MU Provost Brian Foster and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs appeared in a panel of officials from all the universities.
Foster said the biggest problem with this sort of discrimination would not occur in the classroom, where boundaries are clear, but in informal settings where learning takes place.
He said if a student were to have a complaint at MU, the first thing he or she should do is contact his or Scroggs' office.
Foster said it's better to have an informal system for complaints because students might be intimidated by formal or legal proceedings, and the goal is to encourage legitimate complaints.
Curator David Wasinger said many education officials, including judges, are seen to have a liberal bias and the system needs to be as transparent as possible.
In another committee meeting, Curator Warren Erdman discussed the importance of curator transparency to the governance committee.
He suggested the board take steps, such as posting its budget online, to become more transparent.
He also suggested some sort of education to help curators better understand the requirements of the Sunshine Law.
More April 6, 2007 News Stories
- Campus Blotter — Monday, April 2 Police are investigating the theft of a Doppler heart monitor from Columbia Regional Hospital between 4 and ...
- Columbia Blotter — Monday, April 2 Scot A. Eads, 35, of 2180 Sycamore Hills Road, on suspicion of third-degree assault of a law ...
- GCB, Rolla name changes discussed — ROLLA — A name change for the General Classroom Building might be realized after at least 18 years of petitions ...
- Hearnes Center fee decision undecided — Chancellor Brady Deaton said ex-officio votes cast on the Hearnes Center fee do not count in the vote's final calculation, ...
- Initiative seeks to increase diversity — It has incentives for departments that hire under-represented minorities.
Most recent News Stories
- KCOU's future uncertain because of lack of funds — The station needs funds to replace its radio tower and move its offices.
- Campus organizations work to register students to vote — Since June, ASUM has registered more than 1,500 students.
- MU aims to increase faculty salaries — As of 2006, MU ranks 33 of 34 for faculty pay in the public division of the AAU.
- STRIPES age-requirement initiative waits on signatures — The organization is also celebrating its seventh anniversary.
- MU takes Cyber Security Awareness Month seriously — The Division of IT offers free software and security tips.