NU administration’s lack of females creates weaknesses

Men rule the school.

University of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken is a man. An all-male board of regents governs the university. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Chancellor Harvey Perlman leads the way with a team of vice chancellors dominated by males.

Of the five vice chancellors, two are female. One of them, Barbara Couture, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, recently landed the presidency at New Mexico State University and will be leaving UNL in January.

Her departure will create a vacancy in the administrative office that could be filled by a male, increasing the imbalance of UNL women leaders.

However, Perlman's only candidate for Couture's position is a woman. Susan Poser, associate to the chancellor and candidate for the senior vice chancellor position, works in the administrative office as part of the chancellor's staff. Women hold five of the seven administrative staff positions.

Another vice chancellor position will open next year when John Owens, vice chancellor of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, leaves.

The lack of female leadership on campus raises concerns with women's advocates across campus.

"There's been talk, since we do only have a couple of upper-administration people who are women, about what would happen if they were to leave," said Karen Becker, an associate professor at the School of Music and chair of the Chancellor's Commission on the Status of Women. "We'd hope they could be replaced by a woman, who's of course qualified, because there's definitely an imbalance."

ALL ABOARD

One area where men drastically outnumber women is on the NU Board of Regents. The board governs the university's four campuses and includes eight voting members elected by their respective districts.

Every board member is a man.

"I don't mean to sound sarcastic, but to get elected, you have to run," said Regent Kent Schroeder, chairman of the board. "That's the number one problem.

"I think there are actually a number of women who have contemplated running but are scared away at the thought of potential voters. Just looking at the last couple of regent elections, the funds needed to get elected might have scared them away, too. That might have scared 99 percent of the populace."

Over the years, only a handful of women have served as regents. In the past 10 years, only two female regents have sat on the board. Nancy O'Brien and Rosemary Skrupa were both defeated by current regents when running for re-election. In 2002, O'Brien was unseated by Regent Howard Hawks, and in 2000, Regent Randy Ferlic defeated Skrupa.

The absence of women on the board doesn't go unnoticed, said Regent Chuck Hassebrook.

"Having (board members) who are too much alike tends to not be quite as strong," Hassebrook said. "That's not saying that now everyone on the board is the same, because we have strong differences of opinion on the board. In general, I think the board would be strengthened by having women on the board and other minorities as well."