This year Youngstown State University has lost a president, a provost, the vice president for finance and administration, and now, with Scott Evans’ departure to Lake Erie College, a vice president of university development.
It goes beyond the university cabinet, too. Martin Abraham, Dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Bryan DePoy, Dean of College of Creative Arts and Communication, and Shearle Furnish, Dean of College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, have applied for other jobs within the past year.
Students are even looking elsewhere. Enrollment is dropping and Eastern Gateway Community College is becoming a viable option for some of them.
We’ve heard countless times this school year that YSU is a destination school, and that we have a bright future ahead of us, and that everyone should want to be here.
So then why is everyone leaving?
Even Randy Dunn said, “People want to be associated with a winner. And we can show that we are a winner. We have a thousand ways we can show it. And we are going to show it,” at his State of the University address.
Think about what YSU has: a top-notch STEM program, a brand-new award-winning business college, one of the top colleges of education in the state and a strong integration with the community.
Those are things that YSU can brag about, yet people are still looking elsewhere.
We can’t say for certain why the higher-ups are on the lookout for other jobs. Maybe it’s just keeping an eye out for what’s out there beyond YSU. Maybe it’s attempted escape before the university’s problems escalate. Maybe the jobs outside of Youngstown are just better fits for the people leaving.
Whatever the reason is, YSU has shown that, as a whole, it can be the winner that Dunn described it as. But the small exodus of personnel this semester doesn’t exactly instill confidence in the university, whether it’s for those replacing people like Dunn and Evans or people looking to come to YSU as academics or even as prospective students.
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