Chancellor ouster may start debate
Higher ed leadership discussion likely
The results of his battle with lymphoma were obvious.
A once-full head of graying hair, lending a scholarly look befitting an academic leader, had given way to a cleanly shaven dome to which Dan Jones didn’t mind calling attention. But only in the context of pointing out that he still has plenty of fight left in him.
“I’ve got a bald head now and no eyebrows,” Jones, chancellor of the University of Mississippi, told the assembled crowd on the Oxford campus Thursday. “Some have suggested that maybe it would be a convenient time for me to retire. That was an option I considered; it certainly would have been easier to acknowledge I’ve had a serious medical condition and retire, but it’s not what was in my heart. And part of the reason is my hope that it will encourage a public conversation about leadership.”
So, far from playing the sacrificial lamb on this Easter weekend — “there’s not much lamb in me,” Jones admits — the embattled 66-year-old physician-turned-academic instead is forcing Mississippi’s higher education leadership to play out publicly its plan to force him out five months from now when his contract expires in September.
In doing so, he hopes to provoke changes in Mississippi’s governing structure for colleges and universities, a structure that he and other leaders say is outdated and in serious need of repair.
The failure of college board leaders in Jackson to reach an acceptable compromise keeping Jones at Ole Miss surprised many, who had thought the outpouring of support the past two
weeks would force a more favorable outcome. Instead, it only underscored the chasm that has developed between a centralized board charged with overseeing eight public universities and local university leaders trying to address disparate needs.
The board of the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), concerned over financial management of Ole Miss’ medical center complex in Jackson, offered to let Jones continue as chancellor through June 2017 if he would agree to step down at that time regardless of any progress made between now and then.
Jones, who ran the medical center before becoming chancellor in 2009, found the offer unacceptable, saying that serving as a lame duck would benefit no one.
Despite the acrimony that was obvious as this week’s events unfolded — the college board put out its own announcement minutes before Jones’ news conference in Oxford Thursday, robbing Jones of the chance to announce the outcome himself — Jones still tried to strike a conciliatory tone in hopes it would encourage the needed changes.
“(College) boards all over the country — not just ours — find themselves in an impossible situation,” Jones said in offering a brief history of the changing economic nature of higher education.
“When I was a college student, access to an inexpensive university education was a part of the pathway to families dealing with inequality and poverty and finding a way to fulfill the great American dream,” Jones said. “In those days, regional boards had sufficient resources to support smaller schools as well as large research universities like ours.
“We’ve lost that. As a society, we’ve decided to give fewer resources to support public education, so regional boards like we have in Mississippi have a harder time addressing the financial needs of all the schools they oversee.”
In the process, the communication gap has widened between local school leaders and state boards. Jones and state legislators who attended his announcement, Rep. Brad Mayo and Sen. Gray Tollison, suggested a way to address it might be a structure that would give universities their own boards of trustees under the umbrella of a state board.
None of the nine trustees on the IHL board immediately returned calls from The Associated Press about the controversy.
In a statement issued on its website Thursday, the IHL didn’t address the question of reform but said it is required by law to provide financial oversight.
“As responsible stewards of public funds, the Board asks appropriate questions about the management of every public university and requires the same level of accountability for every institution,” the statement said.
Any changes in the IHL and its authority would require changing the state constitution, and all agreed that such a process likely will proceed slowly.
In the meantime, Ole Miss is left to deal with fallout that supporters hope will be minimized by Jones during his remaining months of leadership.
The move to oust Jones brought denouncements from major donors, as well as faculty, students and prominent alumni. Anthony Papa, president of the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation, reiterated Thursday that the foundation would retract the $20 million it promised for a new science building.
Michael Barnett, chairman of the faculty senate and a theater professor on the Oxford campus, said Friday he thinks if Jones appeals to donors during his remaining time, some of the negative impact can be averted.
“I think Dr. Jones will do everything he can to serve the needs of the university,” Barnett said, adding that he still fears the university may be in for “a difficult time for a little while.”
Barnett and faculty senate colleagues had just passed a resolution Tuesday evening affirming support for Jones, the second such resolution in two weeks. Barnett said he was hopeful the strong support would convince college board members to give Jones a full four-year contract extension. When it didn’t, Barnett said it was fair to say he was surprised.
“Shocked is a good word,” he said.
As for the unexpected turn of events leading to changing the governing structure, Barnett agreed it may be time to start the discussion.
“I think it definitely needs to be discussed,” he said. “I have no strong opinion right now. But now that the topic has been broached, yes, I think it’s something we need to look at.”
As a society, we’ve decided to give fewer resources to support public education, so regional boards like we have in Mississippi have a harder time addressing the financial needs of all the schools they oversee.”
Dan Jones, Chancellor, University of Miss.