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VANSAN.COM/NEWS | THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
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Over half of senior administrators have left since 2010; budget cuts may be why
▶ EMILY WELLBORN
@EmWellborn
two-time graduate of the University, Jack Martin loved his time as a Jayhawk so much that he served as its strategic communications director for seven years. Martin admired his colleagues and was proud of his work, but his decision to leave the University was made easier due to financial constraints, which he said were the worst part of his job.
YEAR
Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, said in an email that a high volume of turnover is not uncommon.
According to news releases since 2015,10 provosts, vice provosts and deans have left their positions, either for a promotion, external job or retirement. In the two years prior, only five positions saw similar changes.
"It is very common in higher education to have administrative positions turnover, whether it's because leaders are taking jobs that
Martin said that recent budget cuts made his new position at the University of Washington more "attractive."
The increase has been especially significant recently. The past year has seen Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and Vice Chancellor Tim Caboni announce their intentions to leave, as well as Neeli Bendapudi stepping into the provost spot left open by Jeffrey Vitter.
"You look around the country and see many state universities and public universities facing this challenge that's been particularly acute in Kansas in recent years, just given the recent budget crises that the state has faced," Martin said.
Martin, who received a Bachelor's degree in political science and a Master's degree in public administration, is not alone in his decision to leave. In the past seven years, 59.3 percent of high-level administrative positions have changed hands, according to the aggregation of data done by the Kansan.
put them in a higher-level position or because they are retiring." Barcomb-Peterson said. "A survey of U.S. college presidents by the American Council on Education found that the average tenure for presidents and chancellors was just 8.5 years. For chief academic officers, it was nearly half that at just 4.7 years."
"It's very hard to
It's very hard to invest in the areas that you need to invest in to grow, first and foremost being your faculty and staff, if the state is decreasing its support. This is not a challenge limited to Kansas."
Michael Harris, an associate professor and director for the Center of Teaching Excellence at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, has done research into chancellors leaving at Division I athletics schools and found that there has been an increase nationwide. Harris and his associates studied over 730 public universities and found that the average completed tenure by a president or chancellor was 5.25 years, which is the lowest it has been since 1988, when the study began.
The survey Barcomb-Peterson references is from 2009, and more recent research has shown an even shorter tenure for presidents or chancellors.
Jack Martin Former KU administrator
Harris also said that the increase was because of increased influence by boards and trustees, and by slashed budgets by state legislatures.
"We had to deal with some very serious budget challenges [on] the state support side," Martin said. "So I think that that is an area that is disheartening to see, that the state legislature maybe wants to go in a different direction in recent years."
"It's very hard to invest in the areas that you need to invest in to grow, first and foremost being your faculty and staff, if the state is decreasing its support," Martin said. "This is not a chal-
He also said these cuts can make it difficult for a university to help their faculty and staff.
The Kansas legislature cut state funding by $47 million last year and Gov. Sam Brownback announced in January that he wants state universities to lower their tuition to a total of $15,000 for a four-year bachelor's degree.
"The single biggest change has been funding," Harris said. "States have been cutting back their support of institutions and that's a huge, huge source of revenue of public universities. Without that, everything you do is more difficult."
lenge limited to Kansas."
This is reflected in the recent campus climate survey. One respondent said that senior administrators were "asking us to do more and more with less."
This was also something that John Gaunt experienced during his tenure as an administrator. He was the dean of the University's School of Architecture, Design, and Planning for 21 years until he stepped back down to a faculty role in 2015.
"We always wish we have greater resources than we have and so part of the job is to manage those resources responsibly, whatever they are. They're never quite enough." Gaunt said.
Gaunt said these cuts and executive orders can make any administrator's job more challenging. He withdrew from his position because it was time for a change.
"You do a certain amount of time, and then you get the feeling that you've done things that you hoped to do, not everything, but there just comes a time," Gaunt said. "I had always enjoyed teaching and that became more of a full-time interest than being a dean."
Gaunt will be leaving his faculty position at the University after this semester to spend more time on his metalwork.
Harris said that problems and challenges like these aren't expected to go away any time soon, leading to higher education playing
FROM APPEALS
PAGE 1
them by Student Senate Rules and Regulations. She said checking each with the scrutiny that the commission did was excessive and only hindered students from participating in Student Senate.
mission during the Court of Appeals hearing. Farlow noted during his 30-minute presentation to the court that the commission checked more than 3,000 signatures, something that took both commission members and advisor Jane Tuttle more than 20 hours.
"We are doing this to try to be equitable," Farlow said during the hearing. "We're not trying to turn
Elections Commission Chair Garrett Farlow represented the Elections Com-
Farlow said avoiding bias was one of the main reasons the commission decided to check all signatures instead of spot-checking random candidates, as Womack said during the hearing would have been more appropriate.
- This evident lack of bias, he said, is illustrated by the fact the students barred come from each of the coa-
people away."
litions.
The elections were scheduled to begin Wednesday morning at 6 a.m.,but have been delayed until Thursday morning due to technical difficulties.
Edited by Erin Brock
FROM JOSH JACKSON
PAGE 1
cipline" was administered after the incident. Kansas Athletics has not released what that entailed, and Jackson was not suspended in relation to this charge.
PAGE1
"I know Josh has regrets from his actions in this ina bigger role in state politics.
ident," Self said in a February statement regarding the incident. "He and I both know he could have exercised better judgment for this avoidable situation, but I'm pleased with how he's accepted responsibility. This does not take away from the fact that he has been a great ambassador
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Jackson has another unrelated court appearance this week. He has three citations for "striking an unattended vehicle, inattentive driving and improper backing," and has his first appearance for those citations at Lawrence Municipal Court on Friday at 9 a.m.
In relation to the vandalism charge, Judge James George ordered Jackson to pay a $500 bond at the Douglas County Jail by Friday at 2 p.m. He will have to be fingerprinted and photographed at the jail as well.
for this university. He will learn from this incident and be better for it."
"If you're running to be governor of Kansas, you have some very strong views on what the University of Kansas and K-State should be doing." Harris said. "They're central to your economic development platform, they're central to recruiting businesses to the state because you need an educated work force. The University is just central in running an economy and you're not going to just let the University do its own thing."
THE MOVIES OF THE WESTERN UNIVERSITY
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Sunsquabi
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3 Son Green
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Calliope Musicals
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Spoonfed Tribe
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SATURDAY, APRIL 15TH
EJKE's Farmers Ball Finals
Dylan Guthrie and the Good Time Guys
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Smackdown Trivia
MONDAY, APRIL 17TH Open Mic
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Sweet Ascent
Never Let this Go
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Split Lip Rayfield
Useful Jenkins
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Thank You Scientist
Bent Knee
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