UMass Boston holds off on chancellor pick
Faculty wants search reopened
Slated to consider the three top contenders for chancellor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the board of trustees is postponing its meeting tomorrow in light of “the volume of feedback” related to the candidates, including calls from the school’s faculty staff union to reopen the search process.
“The President will be reviewing the community’s feedback on the three finalist candidates who were forwarded by the search committee over the next several days. The UMass community truly appreciates the willingness of the candidates to participate in this process,” said Jeff Cournoyer, UMass spokesman, in a statement.
“Due to the volume of feedback, which was due by end of business on Friday, the tentative meeting for Monday was postponed. That will give President (Marty) Meehan time to process the feedback from all of the stakeholders,” the statement continued.
The UMB Faculty Staff Union, however, called the process “deeply problematic” and said that the faculty was “marginalized and silenced throughout the search process.”
“While we are grateful for the candidates’ visits to our campus and recognize they are all prominent leaders, we had concerns about what seemed to be a lack of relevant experience that UMass Boston really needs at this crucial juncture in our history,” said Heike Schotten, associate professor. “We also felt unable to truly learn enough about each of the candidates, given the foreshortened search and interview process that effectively shut faculty out of the process.”
In a statement Friday, the union demanded that Meehan and the board of trustees reopen the search process.
“The faculty assert a collective and resolute judgment that none of the final candidates have demonstrated that they are sufficiently qualified to serve as the chancellor of the only public research university in the greater Boston area and the most diverse four-year public institution in New England,” the union said. “It is not surprising to us that a search so mired in process problems yielded a pool of candidates that do not have the skills, experience, or values that are needed to lead our unique, growing, and developing university.”
The three finalists are Kathy Humphrey, senior vice chancellor for engagement and secretary of the board of trustees at the University of Pittsburgh; Peter Lyons, vice provost and dean of Perimeter College at Georgia State University; and Jack Thomas, president of Western Illinois University.
The new chancellor would fill the position vacated by former Chancellor Keith Motley, who stepped down last spring amid controversy and a $30 million deficit.