THE Presidential Search in Final Stages
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CO.NCOKLMA COLLLGL. MOOK11LAD. MINNLSOIA THE ONCORDIAN Friday, April 23, 2004 Volume 14, Issue No. 2b Presidential search in final stages campus and is able to articulate the compelling Lindsay Stordahl mission statement, Gilbertson said. Staff Writer "The mission of Concordia is a core value of Dovre reflects on interim year The Presidential Search Committee is in the ours," he said. process of choosing the most qualified presiden- It is also important for the new president to Sarah Hoffman tial candidate from the remaining pool of excep- have a passion for academic excellence, an abil- Staff Writer tional candidates. ity to demonstrate knowledge, and the ability to "We arc on our way to the end of this make confident financial decisions. The new As the 2003-04 academic year comes to a close, process," said Roger Gilbertson, committee president should have strategies to retain stu- students will begin saying their goodbyes to grad- chair. dents and faculty, and should be comfortable uating seniors who must bid Concordia farewell. The committee is very excited about reaching communicating in all situations and with all Yet for one member of the college community, that the final stage, he said. Due to sensitivity and the groups of people. farewell may seem oddly familiar. issue of confidentiality, Gilbertson is the only The search for Concordia's tenth president With Concordia's presidential search well spokesperson for the committee and he will not began in October 2003, when the draft of quali- underway, Interim President Paul Dovre will leave release any names of the remaining candidates. fications for the next president was completed. his office in Lorentzen for one last time-just as he The last two meetings were spent looking The pool of 120 nominees and applicants the did almost five years ago. over these final candidates, he said. The number committee received last fall reflected a diverse Called to serve as interim president after former of candidates has been reduced to less than five, group of people in experience, gender and geog- president Tom Thomsen resigned in spring of and the job of the committee is to choose one raphy, Gilbertson said. 2003, Dovre, along with his wife Mardy, returned final candidate. The Board of Regents will vote Throughout the fall, the committee met with this fall to the presidency that he held for 24 years. on whether or not this candidate meets the several groups of local alumni, faculty, staff and As Concordia's eighth president, Dovre served the expectations and qualifications to become the students, both separately and collectively as a college from 1975 until 1999. next president of Concordia. way to gather input regarding qualifications and Dovre said he looks back on this interim year Over the next several days, the committee qualities of the president, Gilbertson said. In with a feeling of fulfillment. will continue discussing the qualifications of the December, the committee reviewed the list of "I believe that a good deal has been accom- candidates. nominees. plished this year with the restructuring of the Last fall, Gilbertson said that the committee In March, the committee focused on narrow- budget and plans for the new student center," would continue seeking candidates until the ideal ing the strong pool of candidates and from there Dovre said. "All of that has made this an exciting person to represent Concordia is found. Now, he they began checking references and further eval- year." is certain that the committee has narrowed the uating the identified individuals, Gilbertson said. Werner Faries, vice-president for business pool down to the best group of potential presi- On behalf of the committee, Gilbertson would affairs, said Dovre's leadership was crucial during dents. Concordia's financial re-allocation. like to thank the students, faculty, staff and File Photo "The search process has drawn an exception- administrators of Concordia, as well as members "He's been extremely helpful to me and to the al pool," Gilbertson said. "I couldn't be more of the surrounding community for the support Paul Dovre served 24 years as Concordia's delighted." and excitement they have shared during this • SEE DOVRE ON PAGE 9 eighth president. The committee will choose the candidate that process. demonstrates the most passion for leadership The other committee members include while also fulfilling the mission of the school. Deborah Birkcland, Mary Lidahl, Roland "They will be the one we will select," Martinson, Ronald Offutt, David Solberg, Gilbertson said. Richard Solberg, Polly Fassinger, James Forde, Speaking on speech The committee wants to find the right person Barbara Olive, Ernie Mancini, Liz Connor and who provides a significant Christian presence on Arnie Selbyg. Anna Erickson issues of academic freedom. Rhodenbaugh Managing Editor rescinded his previous decision March 26. The sequence of events, for Dovre, is "both Interim President Paul Dovre spoke at Faculty straightforward and subjective," he said during Senate on Monday, April 19 about his reflections the senate meeting. Rising to the occasion on campus speech. "In the world of unintended consequences, His reasons for speaking were based on an some segments of our public were outraged and overwhelming campus-wide interest in issues others were unable to hear what was being said," concerning speech, stemming from a Feb. 16 Dovre said. chapel talk during Women's History Week by Dovre shared a number of personal observa- Susan O'Shaughnessy, associate professor of phi- tions concerning the recent events with the senate. losophy. Following her chapel talk, which includ- "My first observation is that events of this sort ed strong language and a provocative message, illustrate our interdependence," he said. Also, he Lindsay Rhodenbaugh, vice president for admis- emphasized that the conduct of one person can sions and financial aid, wrote an e-mail to his affect everyone. staff, telling them to exclude O'Shaughnessy from In regards to freedom of expression, Dovre admissions events. believes Concordia "has a strong tradition of From here, 38 faculty members signed a peti- reflection and deliberation." He also thinks that tion that said O'Shaughnessy's chapel talk was Concordia has a good tradition of being responsi- "an appropriate and thoughtful contribution to the ble when it comes to freedom. discussion of the issues currently taking place in ELCA churches around the country." It also raised • SEE SPEECH ON PAGE 2 Innovations Fair Tuesday this year. Kevin Armbrust Among the most unique innovations this year The Concordian are Dr. Drew Rutherford's Pet Molecule Project, Concordia's inaugural Innovations Fair and Russell Peterson's work with students in electron- awards ceremony will launch this Tuesday, and ic music-mixing and Dennis Duncan's idea to implementing the Innovations Fair is just one way separate the residential hall network from the rest in which the administration is fulfilling the goals of the campus. of Concordia's Strategic Plan. Computer services knew the big problem last Since it is the inaugural year, a president's fall with slow computers had to be fixed, said council has been selected to decide who attends Duncan, network manager for computer services. the fair and receives this year's awards. In subse- "By separating the networks we were able to quent years, an innovative person or group from handle the problem a little better," he said. "All each of six divisions will be nominated to attend. the worms and viruses we were getting seemed to The six divisions include business affairs, devel- be coming from student owned computers-this opment, academic affairs, student affairs, commu- was a way to at least make sure the campus com- nications integrated marketing and admissions. puters were always available and working well." "I think this is what could set us apart," said Hank Tkachuck, professor of CSTA and member of the proposal committee, to launch the Campus "/ think this is what could set Innovation Award. "Very few campuses are that us apart... Very few campuses of innovation. The root of this was the idea that the future of education had to make innovation a are, that of innovation. target, not an accident." Last fall, members of the Administrative Hank Tkachuk Council defined innovation as a new way of doing Professor of CSTA something that makes it better or a way of doing new things; a new solution to an old problem or a The Innovations Fair is geared to fulfill the solution to a new problem; and described innova- sixth goal of the Strategic Plan, which is to tion using words such as freedom, challenge, "embrace innovation as a core value." By doing inspiration, creativity and risk-taking. so, Concordia is recognizing the intelligent This ranges in ideas from Exploration thought and risk-taking ability of faculty and stu- Seminars to online instant registration. There was dents alike. even an example of a tool constructed by a phys- "Innovation says, 'safe is okay- but so is dan- ical plant staff member, consisting of a tennis ball ger,'" Tkachuck said. linked to a broomstick for erasing black scuff The community gathering for the Innovations Photo by Solvcig Nesse marks off the skyway floor. Fair will be 9:30-10:30 a.m, Tuesday, April 27. in Tom Reed scales the rock climbing wall last Saturday at Cornstock. For more photos from But these are only innovations that the the Centrum. Coffee and cookies will be served, the event, turn to the A&E section. Administrative Council identified as good exam- as well as a brief 10 minute ceremony. ples if the award had been implemented prior to www.cord.edu/dept/concord NEWS Page 2 www.cord.edu/dept/concord/newsJitm April 23, 2004 recent event, more conversation ^SPEECH between Women's History Week FROM PAGE 1 American Hi-Fi rocks Cornstock planners and the campus pastors From here, Dovre comment- would have been helpful, he ed on what he calls the law of said.