The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Students say SIUC needs an involved chancellor

A decision on the next president of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi - as well as the possibility of SIUC losing its chancellor - may yet to be determined, but some students say regardless of what Chancellor Walter Wendler decides, the University needs someone who understands how to improve the SIUC community.

Wendler is one of six candidates who interviewed for the position last month. Leo Sayavedra, chairman of the search committee and vice chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs over the Texas A&M system, had previously said that final recommendations made by the school's chancellor would soon be given to its Board of Regents. From there, a decision could be made at the board's meeting Tuesday.

If Wendler leaves, Bill Duncan, graduate student in anthropology, wonders what will happen to "Southern at 150," a plan that aims to place SIUC among the top 75 public research universities in the country. The University is striving to meet the goal by its 150th anniversary in 2019.

"I am interested to see what happens," Duncan said. "'Southern at 150' is an articulated vision, and it's hard to say in a change of administration whether it would continue to be implemented or if we'd change courses.

"It depends on the person."

Many students were asked about the possibility of Wendler's leaving but declined to comment because they believed they were not informed of the issue to comment.

TyJuan Cratic, a sophomore studying political science, said one concern he had was the assumed separation between the administration and the students of SIUC.

"It's going on in both parts," he said. "We need to do something to close that gap."

Cratic said whether or not Wendler leaves SIUC, the University needs to be connected to the student body and allow them to have a voice in policy changes.

"He has done great things for this University, and I think he could do great things at Texas," Cratic said. "The vision has to keep with education. We need to look for someone who will be able to listen to students, first and foremost."

Sarosh Shamsi, a senior studying microbiology, who is graduating this semester, said because Wendler's reign has been peppered with problems, such as persistent budget woes, employee layoffs and the threatened faculty strike during the 2002 - 2003 school year, he would not blame the chancellor for leaving.

"I have a feeling that he tried his best, and it didn't work out for him," Shamsi said.

Though there are still a lot of "ifs" up in the air, Shamsi said the University needs a leader who is in tune with the region as well as the community in it, particularly because the school has "so much potential" to become a research institution.

"We need a chancellor who's patient and who listens to everyone's concerns," he said. "From the administration problems to students, we need a chancellor who understands."

Duncan agrees: "They [the administration] should look for someone who wants to implement long-term goals for the University and who wants to reward excellence."

 

 

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