Dateline: Home Study

Charles Lee, the President of Mississippi State University, announced this afternoon that he would be retiring. Now the search is on for a new President and I can’t help but wonder what it will be like. The last search was certainly botched, promises were made and broken, and the outrageously expensive consulting firm that was hired to help in the search could not find it their budget to even acknowledge the receipt of a nomination.

The announcement follows:

The real question will be to find who is truly in charge this time–the University, the Institutions of Higher Learning, the legislature, or the alumni who long for the university they attended but do not realize it has long-since changed. But I must remember, this is Mississippi I’m in, where we have never had a difficult time selling ourselves short. I pray we don’t do it this time.

What do I want to see in the next president? Easy. First, there should be strong leadership, the kind that makes you want to go to places you never gone before and do things you’ve never done before, the kinds of leaders I’ve been privileged to know in the military. Second, someone with a vision, a vision of the university in 20 or 30 years and someone who is willing to take the steps to implement that visions. Third, I’d like to see a strong decision maker; someone who will make decisions quickly but carefully. Someone who is not afraid to involve others in the decision-making process but realizes he (or she) must make the decision. Fourth, a delegater. Someone who knows that they do not know everything, recognizes their weaknesses, and brings in people to compensate for those weaknesses. Will we find such a person? I don’t know but I can hope. I wonder, is Vice Admiral Gaffney ready for a change?