Marty Meehan, president of the University of Massachusetts system and its 22-member Board of Trustees, released a position profile for the University of Massachusetts Boston’s new chancellor.
“The candidate should be a key strategic influencer with the vision, energy, and management skills to overcome challenges and drive the growth of this critical urban university in an increasingly competitive higher education landscape,” the statement, which was released Nov. 21, said.
In an October interview with The Mass Media, Interim Chancellor Barry Mills said that he is confident a permanent replacement will take his place by the end of June 2018 to continue leading the school to financial stability.
“The candidate should excel at fiscal management and resource development, thrive in a shared governance environment, and be a team player and communicator who can articulate and build support for the University’s unique mission. Candidates from a broad range of leadership backgrounds will be considered,” the statement also said.
Monroe Moseley, vice president of Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, is assisting UMass Boston with the chancellor search. At an open forum held by the UMass Boston’s Search Committee on Nov. 17, Moseley told The Mass Media that the search committee is also confident that they will find the right candidate by June of 2018.
Members of the search committee, including Gray Milkowski, UMass Boston’s student trustee, took notes at the forum as faculty members insisted on some of the qualities that UMass Boston’s next chancellor needs in order to lead the school to financial stability.
Sir Henry Thomas, who stepped down as the UMass Board of Trustees Chairman in 2015 and is now leading the Search Committee, shared with The Mass Media that UMass Boston’s student body is asking for someone who is caring and will prioritize their needs: “Folks want a visionary, someone who can inspire the entire community within the campus community, but also the community [around the campus]… because we are a public, urban research university.”
Over the summer, when Mills was appointed as interim chancellor, classes were canceled, faculty members were laid off, and UMass Boston’s day care center was shut down, all of which were efforts to minimize the school’s spending during its $30 million deficit.
In an open forum held in September, Mills said to a crowd of upset staff, faculty, and students, all who have expressed dissatisfaction in UMass Boston’s alleged declining quality of education, that “sacrifices had to be made.” On Nov. 22, UMass Boston also laid off 36 more faculty and staff members.
Lucas Henrique, speaker for UMass Boston’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG), spoke at the open forum. He said that the USG’s budget is being cut as well: “If students are not getting the experience they want on campus, then they are not going to want to stay.”
On Nov. 10, Thomas told The Mass Media that UMass Boston is certainly in need of progress: “Now, serving the students at a high level of educational quality is imperative, but what folks are saying is that they want someone who will leverage what has already been established as great progress, not being preoccupied… There’s a recognition that there are things that need to be fixed.”
“But the focal point is… We have more strengths than weaknesses, so let’s build our strengths,” said Thomas.
“The people that we’ve talked with were thoughtful and therefore helpful in helping us putting together a profile of what we need to have listed as attributes for the new leader coming in here,” said Moseley.