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<font size="2" face="Tahoma">By Patsy R. Brumfield
Daily Journal
STARKVILLE - Mississippi State University's presidential search has landed in the cross-hairs of several situations, say several alumni, and it's not clear what will happen next.
The state College Board plans to meet at 2 p.m. Friday to continue discussions about MSU's presidential vacancy, created in March when retired Air Force Gen. Robert "Doc" Foglesong made a surprise exit from the post only two years into the job.
Some possible outcomes from the secret process:
- The board will go ahead with second-round interviews for finalists Dr. Mark Keenum and Dr. Gary Miller, then select one as a preferred candidate.
It's unclear if Miller is still in the mix after public criticisms from some MSU supporters that he worked more than a decade at the University of Mississippi and maintains close ties with Ole Miss.
- If Miller has withdrawn his name from contention, trustees could decide to offer the job to Keenum.
- Or they could decide to start the whole process over.
Keenum, an undersecretary for the USDA in Washington, D.C., and Miller, Wichita State University's top academic officer, are MSU alumni.
A third finalist, interim MSU president Dr. Vance Watson, resigned Monday just days after he was forced to repay $12,333 for landscape work he authorized with Extension Service workers at the Rankin County home of Institutions of Higher Learning chief Dr. Thomas Meredith.
Oscar Miskelly of Flowood, one of the most vocal alumni during this search, echoed the sentiments of other ardent Keenum supporters.
"If it's somebody else, they're going to have a real mess on their hands," he said Tuesday via telephone.
This is Keenum's third time in as many searches to be a finalist. Neither he nor Miller has commented publicly about the process.
This is the fourth MSU presidential search in a decade.
"I will be very disappointed if they reopen the search," said Mike Armour of Tupelo, who also supports Keenum.
Both men agreed the MSU faithful are running out of patience.
Now, the MSU search has become complicated by several factors:
- News of Watson's resignation has been widely reported, especially in The Chronicle of Higher Education and on insidehighered.com, two publications where the academic world goes for news. Controversy could hurt a future search.
- Escalated board politics with jockeying over Meredith's fate and his possible successor.
n Promised faculty dissatisfaction if the new president lacks university administrative experience.
Fueling the fires of unrest are potential legislative alliances for reform in the wake of dissatisfaction with the search process at MSU and Mississippi Valley State University.
What's clear are the statistics behind the most recent searches:
When Foglesong emerged the preferred candidate in 2004, IHL had started with more than 100 applicants.
After Foglesong's much-publicized departure amid controversy, IHL started this latest search with 13 applicants, according to a member of the university's search advisory panel.
But for one Jackson Bulldog Club leader, it was frustratingly simple: "Find me another Donald Zacharias. At this point the only candidate I see out there with close to those qualifications is Dr. Keenum."
Zacharias, now retired and a president emeritus, was MSU president from 1985 to 1997, and his tenure was the last before short presidential tenures and search controversies began.</font>
<font size="2" face="Tahoma">By Patsy R. Brumfield
Daily Journal
STARKVILLE - Mississippi State University's presidential search has landed in the cross-hairs of several situations, say several alumni, and it's not clear what will happen next.
The state College Board plans to meet at 2 p.m. Friday to continue discussions about MSU's presidential vacancy, created in March when retired Air Force Gen. Robert "Doc" Foglesong made a surprise exit from the post only two years into the job.
Some possible outcomes from the secret process:
- The board will go ahead with second-round interviews for finalists Dr. Mark Keenum and Dr. Gary Miller, then select one as a preferred candidate.
It's unclear if Miller is still in the mix after public criticisms from some MSU supporters that he worked more than a decade at the University of Mississippi and maintains close ties with Ole Miss.
- If Miller has withdrawn his name from contention, trustees could decide to offer the job to Keenum.
- Or they could decide to start the whole process over.
Keenum, an undersecretary for the USDA in Washington, D.C., and Miller, Wichita State University's top academic officer, are MSU alumni.
A third finalist, interim MSU president Dr. Vance Watson, resigned Monday just days after he was forced to repay $12,333 for landscape work he authorized with Extension Service workers at the Rankin County home of Institutions of Higher Learning chief Dr. Thomas Meredith.
Oscar Miskelly of Flowood, one of the most vocal alumni during this search, echoed the sentiments of other ardent Keenum supporters.
"If it's somebody else, they're going to have a real mess on their hands," he said Tuesday via telephone.
This is Keenum's third time in as many searches to be a finalist. Neither he nor Miller has commented publicly about the process.
This is the fourth MSU presidential search in a decade.
"I will be very disappointed if they reopen the search," said Mike Armour of Tupelo, who also supports Keenum.
Both men agreed the MSU faithful are running out of patience.
Now, the MSU search has become complicated by several factors:
- News of Watson's resignation has been widely reported, especially in The Chronicle of Higher Education and on insidehighered.com, two publications where the academic world goes for news. Controversy could hurt a future search.
- Escalated board politics with jockeying over Meredith's fate and his possible successor.
n Promised faculty dissatisfaction if the new president lacks university administrative experience.
Fueling the fires of unrest are potential legislative alliances for reform in the wake of dissatisfaction with the search process at MSU and Mississippi Valley State University.
What's clear are the statistics behind the most recent searches:
When Foglesong emerged the preferred candidate in 2004, IHL had started with more than 100 applicants.
After Foglesong's much-publicized departure amid controversy, IHL started this latest search with 13 applicants, according to a member of the university's search advisory panel.
But for one Jackson Bulldog Club leader, it was frustratingly simple: "Find me another Donald Zacharias. At this point the only candidate I see out there with close to those qualifications is Dr. Keenum."
Zacharias, now retired and a president emeritus, was MSU president from 1985 to 1997, and his tenure was the last before short presidential tenures and search controversies began.</font>
