(Published Saturday, April 7, 2007 12:55:38 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Carla McCann Gazette staff
WHITEWATER-The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will move as quickly as possible to set up a search committee to find a new chancellor for UW-Whitewater.
Meanwhile, an interim chancellor will be appointed to ensure continuity in leadership for UW-Whitewater students, faculty and staff, said UW System President Kevin P. Reilly.
UW-Whitewater Martha Saunders was appointed Thursday as the ninth president of the University of Southern Mississippi. She is a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., where USM is located.
For Saunders, it's an opportunity to go home.
For UW-Whitewater, however, it's a big loss, said Jeffrey Bartell, another UW System regent.
"Chancellor Saunders will be hard to replace," Bartell said. "Because she was so good and well-respected, it didn't surprise me that someone else came after her."
And when Bartell heard it was Southern Miss that came calling, he wasn't a bit surprised.
UW-Whitewater didn't have much of a chance for keeping Saunders here when she was being asked to come home, Bartell said.
Saunders is the first woman chancellor at UW-Whitewater. She has served as chancellor there since August 2005, replacing Jack Miller, who left to become president of Central Connecticut State University.
Before coming to Whitewater, Saunders was vice president for academic affairs at Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga., and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, where she also worked as director of the University Honors Program.
While at UW-Whitewater, Saunders created a great framework for the university's strategic plan, dealt with the controversy of having two former deans accused of misusing school funds, resulting in one of the two men being fired and the other demoted, and saw the beginning of UW-Whitewater's five-year, $100 million face-lift.
The UW System is fortunate to have chancellors who have served from eight to 10 years in their positions, Bartell said.
"That's longer than the national average, which is something like five years," Bartell said. "This is a position people move up to."
They often move through the ranks, serving as provosts, deans and assistant chancellors, Bartell said.
"It would be wonderful if we could find a chancellor who could start next fall at UW-Whitewater," Bartell said.
