|
|||||
 | |||||
|
Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 9/26/07 |
|
|
In
the News Archive - Year:
March 30, 2007 Possible new job 'all about fit,' UWGB's Shepard says Chancellor is finalist for top position at Michigan university By Kelly McBride
Shepard, 60, is one of four finalists for the president's position at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. He'll visit the campus of 26,000 on April 10-12 to meet with students, officials and the public.
Western Michigan announced its finalists Thursday, the same day Shepard sent an e-mail about his candidacy to campus faculty and staff.
And while the next few months could bring considerable change for Shepard, his wife Cyndie and UWGB, he said Thursday any potential move is all about compatibility.
"It really is all about fit. There are four finalists and any one of those could do the job," Shepard said. "We need to judge fit as well, and so Cyndie and I would be having a whole lot of conversations with each other."
Shepard isn't the only top UWGB official considering a move. In addition to the possibility of Shepard leaving, provost Sue Hammersmith is a finalist for president positions at two other schools — Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill., and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
And while the potential of both administrators leaving could mean change for the campus, it wouldn't be the first time it's happened, said UWGB professor Scott Furlong. Before Shepard's arrival at UWGB in 2001, the school was without a chancellor and a provost at the same time.
"The campus is going to go on, regardless ... (Hammersmith and Shepard) put us in good standing, at this point, to continue," Furlong said. "That's really what a provost and a chancellor ought to be doing."
Still, there could be some unanswered questions if Shepard is offered and accepts the Western Michigan job. One of his main objectives as chancellor has been an effort to grow the campus from 5,500 to 7,500 students during the next six years.
Gov. Jim Doyle included funds for UWGB's growth agenda in his budget proposal, and Shepard said he's confident the groundwork has been laid to move forward — even if it's with a new chancellor.
Western Michigan's student body is more than 41/2 times the size of UWGB's. Compared with the 13 four-year University of Wisconsin system campuses, it's smaller than only two — UW-Madison, with more than 40,000 students, and UW-Milwaukee, with about 26,800, according to 2005-06 UW System data.
UWGB ranks 11th on that list.
| |
