Oregon State University interim President Becky Johnson and Chair of the OSU Board of Trustees Kurt Schueler were guests on The Corvallis Advocate CitySpeak Town Hall on Tuesday, January 25.
Johnson began the night by standing firm on her statement that she will not be seeking a permanent position as president of the university. “I am not a candidate for the permanent position, I am getting close to retirement here,” said Johnson. “I have a long career at Oregon State University, and I think the university is ready for someone with a long career [to come].”
Last year, Oregon State University was rocked by scandal surrounding former president F. King Alexander. Alexander submitted his resignation effective on April 1, 2021, amid allegations of mishandling sexual misconduct allegations at Louisiana State University, where he had served as chancellor and president from 2013 to 2019.
“It was challenging to get through the transition,” Johnson said. “There was obviously a lot of anxiety, and this is something we’ve never really encountered. I was pleased that I had the experience with the university and felt like I could bring some stability to the situation. I feel like we have made some real progress at Oregon State University.”
Johnson Sees a Covid Question
Another challenge faced by the university has been a challenge for all of us, the pandemic. Johnson anticipates that the new president will be tasked with critical choices regarding students’ expectations and needs in regards to in-person and distance learning moving forward.
“I think one of the changes as a result of the pandemic is how different classes are in the pandemic,” said Johnson. “We have thousands of thousands of students enrolled in remote or online programs. I feel like we are well positioned to do that. I think that is one of the challenges that a new president will face is what the students will expect coming out of the pandemic. In person or remote. The new president will need to figure out how to respond to the new student demand.”
Schueler Talks About the Search
Schueler spoke about the challenges a new president will face from his perspective, saying “some of the challenges are ongoing, funding and offsetting costs and tuition.
“Funding is an ongoing challenge,” Schueler said. “I think the other one in my mind is the challenge of managing a campus and in the manner of cultural differences. That is an issue we all know is important and top of mind. I think the president coming in will need that awareness and problem solving to allow for those students from different cultures to come in and feel accepted.”
Schueler said the anticipated timeline at vetting out potential candidates for the new university president will take place throughout February all the way until April and then they will start to interview and look over candidates. By May they anticipate being down to the finalists with the hope of having the process wrapped up by the end of May and the new president will be in place by July.
“We want to be respectful of those comments that came to us and weighing them when doing the confidential process. That process didn’t allow the community to make a connection or not with the candidates and that situation created a deficit and no one in the community built a connection with the candidate,” said Schueler when asked if it’s important to be involved with the public and on public forums. Adding, “The board will also be conducting a third-party background check on candidates. We will be using a third-party independent that has no stake in the outcome.”
To watch the full conversation, go to the CitySpeak webpage.
By: Jennifer Williams
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