UMASS FIELD NARROWED TO TOP 3
Trio for top Hub campus spot will visit next week
Three higher education leaders from the University of Pittsburgh, Georgia State University and Western Illinois University have been recommended as finalists to lead the troubled University of Massachusetts Boston campus, officials announced yesterday.
Each candidate is expected to visit UMass Boston next week to meet with the campus community before UMass President Martin T. Meehan chooses one finalist to recommend to the board of trustees as the next chancellor.
The 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 15-member search committee unanimously made the recommendation yesterday after an executive session. Henry M. Thomas III, a UMass trustee who chaired the search committee, said the group wanted “someone we thought was unequivocally capable of running UMass Boston.”
UMass launched a national search with Boston firm Isaacson, Miller for the Dorchester school’s next leader last October, after former Chancellor Keith Motley stepped down last spring amid controversy and a $30 million deficit.
Interim Chancellor Barry Mills has led the campus since July 1, making controversial cuts to programs and staff to steer the school out of its crippling debt.
The next chancellor will have to take on a school fraught with tension and distrust from students and faculty who fear its mission to serve low-income and first-generation college students is being lost amid efforts to cut costs. The community is also on edge after UMass Amherst announced plans to take over Mount Ida College in Newton along with its $50 million to $70 million debt.
UMass Boston faculty union leaders breathed a sigh of relief that the finalists had backgrounds in higher education and were not “handpicked” local candidates.
“We need someone who can understand that we have served lowincome, first-generation college students and are majority minority — and someone who can keep the urban mission, but also propel us forward with resources we need to serve these students so we don’t always face budget cuts and repair buildings that badly need repairs” said Marlene Kim, UMB faculty staff union president.
John Hess, union vice president, said, “We want someone who can bring about sustainability but also ensure affordability. We’re very concerned about the future of the university.”
The three finalists were whittled down from a list of 10 candidates interviewed amid a total of 195 prospective candidates.