The University of Idaho will be in a state of interim during the upcoming academic year following the departure of several top-level administrators. But Interim President Don Burnett said UI will be OK in the search and transition to new leadership.
“Whenever you see leadership transition, I think the question isn’t just ‘What have we lost?’ but ‘What did somebody else look for,'” Burnett said. “And if they are looking for top-quality leadership and they are finding it at the University of Idaho, I look upon that as a favorable thing.”
Who and why
President M. Duane Nellis left for the Texas Tech University. Provost Doug Baker became the president at Northern Illinois University. Baker’s wife, Assistant Dean of Recruitment and Retention in the College of Business, Dana Stover left with him. John Hammel, former dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences stepped down and returned to a faculty position. Director of Housing Ray Gasser moved on to Michigan State University — the largest housing program in the nation, bringing with him his wife and Director of the Women’s Center, Heather Shea Gasser. Debbie Storrs, associate dean of the College of Letters, Art and Social Sciences moved on to University of North Dakota.
Those are among the more prominent positions that have been vacated at UI since December. Despite what may seem like a frighteningly large number to the casual observer, Kenton Bird said there’s only one unusual aspect of this turnover: the president and provost both leaving in the same year.
Bird is the director of the school of Journalism and Mass Media and outgoing chair of the Faculty Senate, and has been a full time faculty member at UI since 1999. To him, the turnover seems magnified as a result of three broad themes at the university. The first is simple.
“Spousal accommodation,” Bird said. “Meaning a two-career couple that leaves creates more impact as opposed to just one spouse being employed.”
The Gassers, Baker and Stover, and Storrs and Mehelich, all indicate UI is doing a better job of providing spousal accommodations, Bird said.
“We’re recognizing there are two career couples that the university is making it possible for both spouses to be employed,” Bird said. “The downside of the dual career accommodations is if you lose one spouse, you are likely to lose the other.”
The second reason Bird said the recent turnover seems so drastic is the visibility of each of the positions.
“The fact that the people who have left have been highly visible on campus,” Bird said. “And they’ve been very successful because in most cases they’re moving to a larger university and the fact they were sought out by these other universities is a reflection of the work they do here.”
The final aspect in the recent turnover is the departure of both the president and the provost — the top two administrative positions responsible for representing and running the university.
“That’s a rare coincidence that I don’t know of any other time in the University of Idaho’s history where the two top positions have turned off,” Bird said.
But he sees them as independent events that are just that: a coincidence.
Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney said she thinks there is something more to it.
“You know, I’m not sure that it was just a raw coincidence that it occurred (at the same time),” Chaney said. “Education at all levels in the state of Idaho is notoriously poorly supported by our state board of education and by our legislature and that is a frustration for me because I value education first as an individual but also as goes the University of Idaho so goes the city of Moscow. We are so integrally bound socially as well as economically.”
Chaney has a close relationship with the University of Idaho and said it’s important for administration, faculty and staff to be fairly compensated.
“If they feel more appreciated or better able to meet their own economic needs or their professional aspirations in other locations, I can’t blame them for leaving,” Chaney said.
It becomes difficult to retain quality faculty and administration if UI has meager state funding out of which to offer raises and competitive salaries. But Chaney said there is more to it than funding.
“I think there’s a political mindset that’s apart from the funding issue,” she said. “We look at the national level … but I do think we see that at the state level as well. Presuming that we can somehow have a competitive workforce without investing in education at all levels and the infrastructure that supports education.”
The social mindset toward education, both K-12 and at the university level, goes hand in glove with whether or not there is money available to put into academic institutions or salaries, Chaney said.
Bill Goesling, Moscow resident and member of the State Board of Education, said state funding has and always will be a challenge.
“Idaho is a small state and it’s a tough row,” he said.
Keeping them around
Don Burnett, UI’s interim president, said the average tenure of a president and provost at an American college or university is about 4-6 years.
“Both President Nellis and his multi-year successor served four years,” Burnett said.
The American Council on Education releases the results of a survey of American college presidents every five years. According to the most recent survey conducted in 2011, the average length of service for a university president was seven years, down from 2006 when the average term was 8.5 years.
But, Burnett said, while UI tries its best to get longevity of leadership, that isn’t the most important thing.
“I think it’s better to have the right person for a given period of time than to have (a president) that other institutions would not seek over a longer period of time,” Burnett said. “Now the same is true of the provosts. I don’t think there’s a crisis of longevity, I do think there’s a coincidence of these things happening at the same time.”
It’s important to consider that many quality administrators aspire to reach the top of the academic ladder, according to Chaney.
“They want to excel, they want a challenge, they want to make a difference in other people’s lives. I think it’s true for both of (Nellis and Baker),” Chaney said.
Burnett said he is more concerned about the retention of faculty and staff than he is senior administrators.
“Just making sure that all of our employees, especially faculty and staff, feel rewarded and feel valued in their jobs,” Burnett said. “We have people in higher education especially the University of Idaho, who’ve only seen one pay adjustment, a very modest one, in the last six years. Of course, many other states are in the same situation. But I do think we have to focus our attention on getting compensation improved for people who devote their lives to this place.”
There’s more to being a UI faculty member than just the salary, though, Burnett said. UI regularly receives millions in research funds and grants, which is appealing to professors and researchers in their respective fields. When there is a choice for a professor between a university that has a higher salary but less research money in their area of interest, and a lower salary but more research money in their area of interest, Burnett said they often choose the latter, as many professors do at UI.
Bird said that in his college, the department does their best to retain any faculty member who is considering leaving.
“There is always a conversation about how to retain them and within budget limitations,” Bird said. “If it’s possible (we offer) to give a raise or reduced teaching load … but historically, UI does have a reputation as helping to prepare faculty and administrators for jobs in larger and more prestigious universities. The fact that people continue to come here in the early or midpoint in their careers is consistent with what has always happened.”
Transition
Despite the many changes happening at the highest levels of UI, Burnett said it is business as usual for the core of the university: the faculty and students.
“When you think of what universities stand for, what they do, it’s instruction — well the president doesn’t do that,” Burnett said. “It’s research — well the president doesn’t do that. It’s outreach and engagement — the president doesn’t do much of that. What the president and what other administrators do, is enable the faculty to do all these things.
Chaney said she thinks this transition is a grand opportunity, especially considering long-time faculty and staff who are dedicated to the well-being of UI are still a core part of the university.
“Any time you have transition, there’s a chance to renew some vibrancy,” Chaney said. “I do believe continuity is important but when you have transition there are also opportunities presented. I must be optimistic that they will find quality people who come here for all the right reasons.”
Goesling expressed similar sentiments. He said this gives the university an opportunity to find a favorable presidential candidate who has strong communication, good leadership, experience in higher education — someone who is familiar with and understands the land grant mission.
“People fear change and we all like the status quo,” Goesling said. “But this allows an opportunity for new ideas, new opportunities. The search committee is one that will be able to find good people.”
The typical student or faculty member starting in August won’t notice the difference, Bird said.
“So much of what UI does is built into our institution that the particular names on the office doors don’t make any difference — turnover is inevitable,” he said. “I think at the heart there is a commitment to stay here and do the best we can regardless of what happens on the first floor of (the administration) building.”
In the end, while the number of people who have departed from UI may seem high, the university will still work toward fulfilling its mission as Idaho’s land-grant institution.
“It’s very easy to plant the seed of controversy by saying ‘Is there unusual transition at this university?’ and people think well ‘There must be. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,'” Burnett said.
But context is crucial, he said. Great universities do have turnover of personnel and they have internal resources to fill in, such as with UI.
“Usually it’s without much regard to who the administrator is at any given point in time,” Burnett said. “As long as we have excellence in the faculty who will then attract the highest and best students, the turnover of the administration is almost secondary … Even though the names on the doors are changing, the work is the same.”
Kaitlin Moroney can be reached at [email protected]