If University of Idaho President Chuck Staben chooses to stay on as a tenured faculty member, he will be the first of 18 presidents to do so.
According to UI Director of Communications Jodi Walker Staben has not yet decided if he will accept the faculty position, and is still evaluating his options, although he must alert the State Board of his decision before his contract terminates on June 15.
The Idaho State Board of Education approved an academic transitional leave for Staben “to prepare for a teaching assignment in January (2020),” according to board materials Feb. 14.
According to Staben’s contract, he is entitled to a tenured position in a department where he has the knowledge and competence to teach. The materials also state Staben would earn an estimated $160,000 a year in the position. Staben would earn about half that amount during the transitional leave period, according to chief communications officer for the State Board, Mike Keckler.
Chuck Staben | Courtesy
“At this point, the Board assumes Mr. Staben will become a faculty member,” Keckler said. “There is no provision requiring the board to be notified ahead of time if he chooses to lead the university.”
Keckler said he does not know if a tenured position will be available to the next president, as provisions are negotiated for each contract
Staben last taught biology at the University of Kentucky in 2007. He served as a professor of biology for just one year. Prior, he served as an associate professor in 1995 and assistant professor in 1989. He received his bachelor’s in biochemistry from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and his PhD in the same field from University of California, Berkley.
The classes he taught at University of Kentucky included Principles of Biology, Bioinformatics and an assortment of graduate and undergraduate seminars in molecular biology and genetics.
According to Staben’s curriculum vitae, all other positions he has held have been administrative roles, before coming to UI he served as provost and vice president for academic affairs from 2008 to 2014 at the University of South Dakota.
In 2012, he unsuccessfully applied to the president position at Wichita State University. He was also a finalist for the University of New Mexico president position in 2017. In his CV, Staben notes that he “no longer conducts active research.” He has authored 30 papers, the most recent published in 2009.
According to the State Board, the period of leave would also be used to evaluate Staben’s research and if it could be incorporated to existing research programs or if Staben would develop alternative research programs.
“Given the advances in this field, Dr. Staben believes it would be in his best interest and that of his future students to allow him time to prepare for such an assignment,” according to State Board materials.
Ellamae Burnell can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @EllamaeBurnell