University of Minnesota Duluth staff and faculty said Thursday they want the next university president to support transparency, research and diversity on campus, and to understand that he or she will be leading a system with unique campuses.
"We want a president who promotes and supports comprehensive liberal education, research, creativity and public engagement at the UMD campus," UMD Faculty Senate Vice Chair Joseph Bauerkemper said. "We want a president who, along with us, is committed to advancing equity, diversity and inclusiveness. We want the search process to ensure that we recruit a president who will not only articulate those values, but also act on them."
The U of M Presidential Search Advisory Committee has been making the rounds of the university system's campuses to hear what students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members want in the person who will succeed President Eric Kaler when he steps down next year. Kaler, who took on the leadership role in 2011, plans to spend the final year of his contract in a fundraising role and then join the U of M faculty. His contract runs out in 2020.
During the search committee's listening sessions at UMD on Thursday, staff and faculty said they want a leader who doesn't behave like a business CEO or treats students like a commodity. They also said they would like a president who can successfully navigate any potential conflicts of interest he or she may face in the dual role of U of M president and Twin Cities campus chancellor - or who is willing to change that structure to separate those roles.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Faculty Senate, in a statement read to the committee by Bauerkemper, took issue with the low number of Greater Minnesota representatives on the search committee. Thirty percent of students in the U of M system attend campuses other than Twin Cities, but the 23-member committee has just three representatives from campuses in other parts of the state, according to the statement.
"We're concerned about how UMD's contributions and interests will be reflected in the search," Bauerkemper read, adding that UMD would like opportunities to engage in the search process as it moves forward.
U of M Regent Abdul Omari, who leads the search committee, said people want a president who is going to take care of the university system. They've also heard concerns about future funding models and preserving research and outreach, he said.
"We also hear, 'This is a complex institution and for as challenging as those complexities make it, that's what makes it beautiful, too,' " he said.
He said he hopes the committee can find a candidate who articulates why it's good to have five campuses in the system and is excited about them.
Those who spoke at UMD on Thursday also said they hope the next president supports the role staff and facilities such as university museums play on the campus.
Jeni Eltink, director of UMD's Kirby Student Center, noted that campus staff is often overlooked and seen as "administrative bloat." However, they are essential to the university, she said.
"Our primary purpose is to really make sure that students are getting what they need, to support the academic and research and service mission of the university. ... I would hope the president will understand the complexity of what we bring and the role we play," Eltink said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rob Hofman, senior development officer at UMD, said he hopes the next president has an appreciation for the arts and can defend undergraduate liberal-arts education against the growing movement toward churning out "worker bees" rather than valuing higher education.
"We're preparing the next generation of thought leaders, people who will revolutionize the world," Hofman said.
Comments about the qualities desired in the next U of M president can be submitted online at https://president-search.umn.edu/community-input .
