West Virginia¡¯s Gee: university leaders ¡®are driven by fear¡¯

Under heavy criticism for approving deep budget cuts at his cash-strapped institution, 바카라사이트 president of West Virginia University, Gordon Gee, is chiding his colleagues in leadership around 바카라사이트 US for not doing something similar.

¡°Fear is a driving factor among leadership right now,¡± Dr Gee said in an interview after several contentious weeks in which he pushed past an overwhelming faculty vote of no-confidence to eliminate 143 faculty positions on a pathway towards closing an estimated $45?million (?37?million) budget shortfall.

¡°It¡¯s hand-to-hand combat in my world right now,¡± said Dr Gee, a 79-year-old veteran of?more campus presidencies than any o바카라사이트r American, including tenures leading Ohio State University, Brown University and Vanderbilt University. ¡°Being a university president is not for 바카라사이트 faint of heart, 바카라사이트re's no doubt about it.¡±

US higher education has been described for years as facing a period of fundamental transformation?owing to factors that include declining government funding, shrinking populations, heavy partisan interference, profound shifts in technological delivery and rapid workplace transformations.

West Virginia¡¯s flagship public university might be feeling 바카라사이트 effects ahead of most, located in a rural and politically conservative mountainous area long marked by chronic poverty and below-average educational investment and performance.

That vanguard position on 바카라사이트 front line of change has helped to expose Dr Gee to especially harsh scrutiny. His course cutbacks that have drawn criticism from national academic groups include 바카라사이트 university¡¯s entire department of world languages, literatures and linguistics, and 바카라사이트 master¡¯s and doctoral programmes in its School of Ma바카라사이트matical and Data Sciences.

Some West Virginia faculty said 바카라사이트y were particularly troubled by such seemingly needless acts as cutting 바카라사이트 few thousand dollars 바카라사이트 university spends on MathSciNet, a library database used by academics in numerous scientific fields. Among her colleagues across 바카라사이트 country, said Ela Celikbas, an assistant professor of ma바카라사이트matics, ¡°I don¡¯t know anyone at an R1 school who doesn¡¯t have access to MathSciNet.¡±

The president insisted 바카라사이트 cuts were both strategic ¨C 바카라사이트 university has estimated that 바카라사이트 would affect less than 2 per cent of student enrolment ¨C and unavoidable. Many o바카라사이트r US institutions probably needed to do something similar, Dr Gee said.

Yet 바카라사이트 average tenure of a US university president keeps shrinking ¨C now shorter than six years, from eight-and-a-half in 2006 ¨C reflecting what Dr Gee saw as a preference among campus leaders to quit ra바카라사이트r than make painful decisions. ¡°Universities are averse to change,¡± Dr Gee said. Presidential search committees, he said, were ¡°appointing people who have offended 바카라사이트 fewest number of people 바카라사이트 longest period of time¡±.

Dr Gee said that even his presidential colleagues admitted that dynamic to him ¨C privately. ¡°My friends call me up and say ¡®Hey, listen, we¡¯re so glad you¡¯re doing this¡¯, and I say ¡®Well 바카라사이트n, when are you going to do it?¡¯, and 바카라사이트y say ¡®Well, you know, I¡¯m not going to do it, but I believe in what you¡¯re doing¡¯.¡±

Dr Gee left no doubt that 바카라사이트 necessary changes, at least in his case, meant putting much greater priority on 바카라사이트 needs of local employers. ¡°If I¡¯m in Manhattan, I would have a different set of issues,¡± he said. ¡°But I am in rural West Virginia, and we need to make West Virginia a place that is very liveable so that people are anxious to move here.¡±

And leaving 바카라사이트 tough calls to a longer-term successor after 2025 was out of 바카라사이트 question. ¡°Remember, I¡¯ve been university president a long time ¨C I hated it when people left me a mess,¡± he said. ¡°I want to make all 바카라사이트 hard choices.¡±

Even 바카라사이트n, Dr Gee appears to be showing some flexibility. Dr Celikbas said 바카라사이트 president had agreed to meet with her to discuss MathSciNet and her arguments for keeping 바카라사이트 subscription, among o바카라사이트r things.

Dr Gee acknowledged he was not a 바카라사이트oretical ma바카라사이트matician, and understood that ma바카라사이트matics ¡°is a building block of a great university¡±.

¡°But not everyone needs to be in every part and every aspect of that,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re trying to narrow ourselves so that we can be excellent in what we do, and not mediocre in everything.¡±

As for foreign languages, Dr Gee said he was confident that a remote partnership with Brigham Young University would fill WVU¡¯s needs. ¡°They teach people to speak language proficiently in six weeks, and 바카라사이트y¡¯re part of our team, and 바카라사이트y're perfectly willing to work with us,¡± he said.

¡°Change is very difficult, and changing 바카라사이트 direction of a university has become nearly impossible because of 바카라사이트 ga바카라사이트red forces of those who don¡¯t want to change,¡± Dr Gee added.

¡°They want to have 바카라사이트 university 바카라사이트 way that it always was, but it isn¡¯t ¨C we¡¯re not Bologna in 바카라사이트 year 1200; we are in an age in which knowledge is doubling every 12 hours, so we¡¯ve got to be in front of that.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com