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Carolina's Next Chancellor

Sadly, because of the tragic death of Chancellor Michael Hooker ’69, it is all too soon that Carolina must identify a new chancellor. With eight new deans and searches under way to identify a new provost and a new vice chancellor for business and administration, many faculty, students, University staff and alumni are concerned that there may be too few in senior leadership positions at UNC who have experienced, value and are prepared to reaffirm Carolina’s special history, culture and mission.

Less than five years ago, I shared with alumni readers the following thoughts on the eve of our search for Carolina’s eighth chancellor:

“Alumni, University faculty and staff, students and friends of Carolina anxiously await word on who will serve as the nation’s oldest public university’s new chief executive officer. Many believe that our University is at a crossroads and suggest that continuing strong leadership for Carolina is critical if we are to build upon our proud record of service to North Carolina, the South, the nation and the world.

“Many have readily volunteered their hope that a visionary leader — deeply rooted in Carolina, experienced in the challenges of a complex public research University — will be chosen.

“Preserving and enhancing the generous public support that Carolina enjoys will require a sophisticated, ambitious public and government relations capacity for Carolina and is increasingly recognized as important.

“There is consensus that Carolina should work to reclaim any ground that we may have lost in various national rankings. Others observe that Carolina will always need to be a good steward of the resources we generate and receive. All emphasize that Carolina must have nationally competitive salaries, benefits and facilities if we are to derive the greatest benefit from our unique, 200-plus-year-old special relationship with the people of North Carolina.

“From my service on the Knight Foundation Commission Intercollegiate Athletics, as president of the Council of Alumni Association Executives, alumni trustee and later chair of the board of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, I have come personally to appreciate the transient tenure for senior higher education administrators. This revolving door may serve some institutions in their eagerness to advance their institution or emulate some ideal model. Fortunately, Carolina does not need to attempt to measure up to some other model. We should be proud that we are the model for those public universities that seek to serve their states while providing internationally recognized teaching and scholarly research.

“More than anything, I hear from many quarters an emphasis on finding a visionary leader who is from, understands and is committed to Carolina. There is hope and expectation that such an individual can serve as the spokesperson for higher education in North Carolina and the South. As the chief executive officer of one of only a handful of the member institutions of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina’s new chancellor is expected also to be a national leader in higher education.”

Nearly a dozen years ago, on the eve of another UNC chancellor search, after an exhaustive review that included interviews with 138 alumni, legislators, editors, students, faculty, University administrators, trustees and others, the review team issued a 107-page report in which it identified qualities it then thought should be possessed by the new chancellor. In addition to those I identified above, the review committee suggested the new chancellor “be a person with sufficient psychological strength to make difficult decisions and to press for institutional change; be an effective internal and external spokesperson but also secure and facile enough to function in the larger system of higher education in North Carolina; have a record of strong interpersonal skills sufficient to pull together the institution’s various constituencies; be articulate in one-on-one group discussions and before large audiences; be in good health and have the physical stamina to work long hours; be an effective manager as well as a leader; have a personal warmth and a sense of humor; be enthusiastic about the pending fund-raising campaign; meet the full test of a field of the very finest candidates possible.”

The Chancellor Search Committee on which GAA Chair William P. Aycock ’65 is serving has the challenge of determining which of the above identified qualities and others are most essential, for no candidate will possess all of the desired experience and qualities. In the final analysis, in identifying the finalists to recommend to UNC System President Molly Corbett Broad, the search committee and then the UNC Board of Trustees must take a leap of faith knowing that whoever becomes Carolina’s ninth chancellor will expect and need the full support of each of us.

In the coming weeks and months, as it did five years ago, the GAA’s Tar Heel Network, led by Chair Tom Lambeth ’57, will hold a series of meetings at which alumni will be invited to suggest what you think should be the priorities of our new chancellor. Meanwhile, we hope you will share your thoughts, concerns or suggestions with us. You may send your comments to:

Chancellor Search Committee
c/o General Alumni Association
The University of North Carolina
George Watts Hill Alumni Center
P.O. Box 660
Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514-0660.

Of course, you may always e-mail your comments to me.

Yours at Carolina,

Doug signature

 

 

 

Douglas S. Dibbert ’70

doug_dibbert@unc.edu

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