Last week, seven community members addressed UW-Eau Claire’s Chancellor Search and Screen Committee to share their ideas on what qualities the univeristy’s next chancellor should have. Eau Claire’s former chancellor, Donald Mash, left in February to become the UW System’s senior executive vice president.
| The issue Some Eau Claire residents recently asked that the new chancellor focus on the needs of area businesses. |
According to an article published Wednesday in the Leader-Telegram, the group said it wanted a chancellor who would focus on business needs. Some people asked the committee to consider hiring someone outside the world of academia.
However, a chancellor’s main concern should be providing a top-notch education for students and meeting their needs. Universities are meant to mold students’ thinking with a liberal arts education – they are not meant to be labor factories.
The trend at many universities around the nation has been to focus on colleges of business. From higher professor salaries to building improvements, business often is prioritized, which is often a disadvantage to people in other fields.
Further, to make connections with businesses and businesspeople, our next chancellor will not necessarily need a background in business. He or she simply will need the ability to network and communicate effectively. These are skills someone with a strong liberal arts background will have.
Ideally, the next chancellor will come from a liberal arts background and have experience as a professor. Experience as a professor will be helpful when interacting with students.
The next chancellor should be a presence on campus. He or she should be approachable and accessible to students. He or she should be as comfortable speaking with Student Senate as with the state Legislature.
Further, the next chancellor should be someone who is willing to become a fixture of the university, stay for years to come and make Eau Claire home.
