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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: 6/5/08 |
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In
the News Archive - Year:
April 24, 2008 Chancellor Shepard to leave UWGB Western Wash. expected to name him to top job By Kelly McBride
Shepard, 61, has been named the preferred candidate for the presidency of Western Washington University, a school of more than 13,000 in Bellingham, Wash.
Western Washington's board of trustees is expected to make it official Friday. Shepard's last day at UWGB would be June 30.
Slightly more than a year ago, Shepard was one of four top candidates for the presidency of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. He pulled his name from consideration, citing unfinished business including the university's growth agenda and Phuture Phoenix program.
But fast forward a year and Shepard is confident in those programs and the university as a whole, he said.
"I really believe the university's strengths are not in an individual," Shepard said Wednesday. "They're in the programs. We had to get the pieces together that would support that, so things like Phuture Phoenix or the arrangement with the technical college ... (there are) a variety of good arrangements there.
"The most important fundamental foundation for the future of this university is strong relationships with the community — those the whole university's worked to build — and those continue."
The announcement comes on the heels of news earlier this month that Sue Hammersmith, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, will leave UWGB to become president of Metropolitan State University in the Twin Cities.
Having both top administrative positions vacant at the same time actually could be advantageous, officials said, because of the important relationship between a chancellor or president and provost and could attract a stronger pool of chancellor candidates.
University of Wisconsin System officials said they hope to start the search for a new chancellor as quickly as possible, forming a search-and-screen committee consisting of various university stakeholders.
The search for a permanent replacement for the provost is expected to take longer so the new chancellor can give input.
Shepard's departure means the UW System is looking to fill five chancellor positions.
Members of the campus community said Wednesday they'd be sad to see Shepard and wife Cyndie go, but many were confidentt in the university's ability to move forward.
They emphasized Shepard's building of ties to the larger community, and his repeated motto that the university is "Green Bay's University of Wisconsin."
"One of the things that was most impressive to me was his ability to create coalitions, to create partnerships," said Steve Swan, assistant chancellor for university advancement. Shepard is "just incredibly successful at that — between UWGB and other educational institutions, between UWGB and businesses, and between UWGB and the community as a whole."
One of those partnerships is UWGB's Phuture Phoenix program, which seeks to boost the college aspirations of area youth through a variety of means, both on campus and in the schools.
Cyndie Shepard has been the public face of that program, but it's in a good place to go on without her, said Fritz Erickson, dean of professional and graduate studies.
"It's a critically important program to the university," Erickson said Wednesday, "but it is a program (that) because of its importance, it's really been integrated into the fabric of the university. ... We fully expect Phuture Phoenix not only to continue, but to really grow and prosper."
Officials had similar thoughts on the Bruce Shepard-led growth agenda, which seeks to increase UWGB's 6,100-student enrollment to 7,500 during the next several years.
Shepard will meet with Western Washington stakeholders today and Friday, when the school's board of trustees is expected to make his presidency official, said Kevin Raymond, chairman of the school's board of trustees.
Raymond declined to comment on a potential salary range for Shepard, who makes $200,563 a year at UWGB. Outgoing Western Washington president Karen W. Morse makes $242,000 a year, according to school spokesman Paul Cocke.
Shepard made $152,070 when he started at UWGB on Nov. 1, 2001.
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