By Sunday, the State Board of Higher Education will have a clearer idea of who will replace Chancellor Joe Cox as the most powerful higher education official in the state.
“We want to have the field narrowed by the end of the week,” Oregon University System spokesman Bob Bruce said Monday. “The hope is to have them in Oregon as soon as possible so they can meet with administrators, faculty and students.”
Bruce said his office will issue a news release Sunday that will name the finalists and give biographical sketches of each. He said the remaining candidates are “very qualified” and each has a strong academic background. The field has been pared to fewer than 10 applicants, Bruce added.
The search to find a chancellor has taken the State Board’s consideration across the nation and to each campus in the OUS. In a series of public forums, faculty, students and administrators at each university identified which traits they believe the chancellor must possess to run a system with a 2001-02 budget the Legislature cut by $70.8 million.
Some say the chancellor must have the political savvy to secure more funding from the Legislature. Others believe the lifeblood of the system could be preserved by seeking unique partnerships with private industry. And still others say the chancellor position should be eliminated completely to save money. But many agree the OUS leader must possess a realistic and optimistic vision for mending Oregon higher education.
“The new chancellor coming into the office is going to have to be comfortable with change,” student board member Tim Young said. “And they must be willing to work with lawmakers.”
Cox, who said he will step down once a candidate is selected, told the State Board during an April 19 meeting that the chancellor is the “deal maker” for Oregon’s public universities. He said to attract the best applicant, the State Board would have to increase the chancellor’s salary from $153,480 to between $180,000 and $190,000 per year.
The State Board Executive Committee has worked with the Los Angeles office of a nationwide search firm, Korn/Ferry International, since February to find a new chancellor.
On July 17, Cox announced that he would retire in spring 2002 to devote more time to teaching and higher education consulting. He suffered a heart attack Sept. 8 and said it “reminded me of my own mortality and of some of the things I want to do and places I want to see.”
Cox has been chancellor for eight years.
“I’m a fatalist,” Cox said in a November interview. “I believe Yogi Berra had it right when he said, ‘You know, there’s only so many hits in a bat, and then it’s time to know when to change.’ I’ve had a great run.”