May 04, 2007 - 04:15:29 CDT
WAHPETON - A committee that will seek potential successors for University of North Dakota President Charles Kupchella should be appointed later this month, the Board of Higher Education's president says.John Q. Paulsen said he and Eddie Dunn, chancellor of the state university system, have been reviewing almost 100 suggested names for the committee, which Paulsen said will have about 15 members. The search panel that recruited Kupchella eight years ago had 27 people.
"We can accomplish the responsibility that we have, to have a broad-based committee that covers all of the necessary ... constituencies, with a considerably smaller membership," Paulsen said Thursday during a state board meeting at the North Dakota State College of Science.
Board members will be hiring two new college presidents in the coming months. Lee Vickers, the president of Dickinson State University, announced this week he would retire as the university's president at year's end. Vickers has been at Dickinson since 1999.
Paulsen said he intended to schedule a telephone conference call board meeting in about two weeks for it to endorse the membership of UND's search committee. Board members also agreed Thursday to give Paulsen authority to hire a consultant to help with the search.
Kupchella announced five months ago that he intended to retire in late January. The job of choosing a search committee for a new UND president was deliberately put off until the end of the 2007 Legislature, Paulsen said. Lawmakers finished their session last week.
Comments are reviewed for taste, tone and language before posting.
Some comments may be used in the Tribune's print edition.
We value and respect your privacy, but The Bismarck Tribune might
disclose certain information to governmental entities if served with subpoena.