Late last month, it was announced that Barbara Couture, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, had accepted a position as president of New Mexico State University. The move wasn't a total shock, as Couture had already been a finalist for similar positions at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and at the University of Albany in New York.
At the time of the announcement, UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman said he had not yet set up a time line for selecting either an interim vice chancellor or a permanent one. Perhaps that's because Perlman was already planning on skipping over any sort of selection process.
On Tuesday, a forum took place so that the campus community could hear from Susan Poser, Perlman's only candidate to take over the vice chancellor position. Poser is currently associate to the chancellor.
This is an odd move by Perlman: It is unusual that there won't be a national search, much less a regional search, to find the best person possible for the position. It is a move we do not agree with.
The vice chancellor position is a prominent one – one that has a major impact on the direction of the university. Students, faculty and staff should be given multiple candidates to choose from. Because let's be honest, who's to vote against the chancellor?
We also question Poser's qualifications to act as senior vice chancellor. Here at UNL, she has only worked as associate to the chancellor, director of the Ethics Center and a full professor in the Law College. Her administrative experience prior to coming to UNL is sparse. She was a Zicklin Fellow in Ethics in the Legal Studies Department at the University of Pennsylvania, which is quite impressive. But her administrative experience seems to be limited, so we wonder why Perlman has moved so quickly to appoint Poser.
We understand that there is some instability within UNL's administration, what with three dean positions and one other vice chancellor position to fill, but rushing the selection process for arguably the highest ranked administrator after the chancellor is not the solution. More time should be taken to find the most qualified person.
If a committee agrees with Perlman that Poser is the one, we won't complain. But to make such an important appointment so quickly is dangerous. It's worth it to take time to make a decision on a position this important.
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