Members of the Robert Holland Faculty Senate on Friday agreed to form a committee in an effort to improve transparency in future presidential searches. This resolution comes in the wake of MSU President Robert H. “Doc” Foglesong’s resignation. In introducing the resolution, many of the senators voiced their concerns about the IHL’s presidential selection process. Senators urged that they stay away from blind searches that might land candidates who are unfit for academic life.
Faculty Senate president Bob Wolverton said he hopes the IHL stays away from candidates from contrasting background cultures.
“Those of us who’ve been in higher education know that there are two models that do not work out at universities: military and business,” Wolverton said. “The IHL brought in someone with a totally different culture, tried to fit them in to university life, and it was not a very workable scheme.”
Mark Goodman, a senator from the College of Arts and Sciences, moved for the formation of a standing committee to assist in the transition and the presidential search process that the university will be facing. The motion carried unanimously.
Goodman says the committee will not only help develop a direction toward the selection process from within the Senate, but also provide the faculty with a voice toward the selection.
“We cannot control how the IHL approaches this selection, but we can control how we approach it,” Goodman said. “We need to speak with an intelligent voice and assert as much as possible into the process.