MSU should pick personable successor
As MSU looks for a president to replace Charles Lee, the administration should have this criterion: someone who can truly represent “The People’s University.”
MSU is a growing university. Although agriculture and engineering are still essential to the school, other departments have been drawing students. In other words, we don’t want a president who will ignore the smaller majors. We also don’t want a president who will forget international students. We need a president who is for all the students and studies.
The new president should be forward thinking. MSU can only advance if someone will stand up for what is right at the time. Currently, the university is attempting to increase enrollment and to make smart budget cuts. We need someone who will keep a close eye on these things so that MSU can grow correctly.
It’s also crucial that we have a president who plans to stay here. A temporary or interim president is definitely not what we need. Therefore, the administration should quickly choose a successor while making sure that he or she is interested in helping MSU for the long run.
Although it would help if the president knows Mississippi and MSU well, it could be extremely beneficial to get someone with a lot of experience outside of the state to bring fresher ideas into our university. An outsider might work harder to gain acceptance as well.
Politics shouldn’t play a part in this decision. The Institute of Higher Learning board should keep its subjectivity at bay when choosing the president. We also need to avoid a president who is highly political. A man like that wouldn’t stand up for us when we need him to.
Finally, the president should be moderately accessible. He or she should be visible for the students, faculty and staff so as to talk to people and know exactly what is going on at MSU.
The university will always have to change leaders. Sex, race and other factors shouldn’t matter: we just need a person for the people.The Reflector editorial board is made up of opinion editor Jed Pressgrove, news editor Sara McAdory, assistant news editor Wade Patterson, sports editor Ross Dellenger, entertainment editor Tyler Stewart, managing editor Dustin Barnes and editor in chief Elizabeth Crisp.