Students, faculty and community members all had their chance to weigh in on what should be considered by consulting firm AGB Search Inc. in its quest for a suitable replacement for President Cynthia Anderson.
Some forum attendees expressed legitimate concerns over the future of the university, but, sadly, many used it as a bitch session.
We need to offer college credit to high school students through a program with area schools, someone said.
Wait.
We already do that.
What’s worse is that many students didn’t seem to know the purpose of the meeting.
Some students complained about Friday dining hours. If Student Government Association Vice President Justen Vrabel hadn’t brought the meeting back on topic, students may not have had the opportunity to air legitimate concerns.
The fact is, most people don’t pay enough attention to the day-to-day operations and efforts of the university to make a substantial contribution to the discussion, and their comments proved it.
Choosing a new president is an incredibly important event. Anderson’s replacement will be responsible for continuing her legacy of student-oriented education. He or she will make decisions that affect the quality of our college experience, which will then affect our careers and, ultimately, the rest of our lives.
Arnold Speert, an AGB representative, won’t benefit from ill-informed complaints. And neither will the university.
We can’t expect consultants to take the search seriously if we won’t.
