Monday, July 20, 2009

Finalists named for newly created MSSU post

he three finalists for the newly created vice president for university development and executive director of the University Foundation have been announced in a release issued by University President Bruce Speck.

This position, if you recall, is supposed to bring the university a fundraising wizard, a quality we were told Speck had in abundance when he was hired. Since Speck's hiring, the university has suddenly found a need for two more fundraising experts, one to fill this position and the recently hired athletic director.

The release is printed below:


Three candidates for the position of Vice President for University Development and Executive Director of the University Foundation will visit the campus of Missouri Southern State University July 27, 30 and Aug. 5, it was announced today by President Bruce W. Speck.

The itinerary for the three will include meetings with campus faculty and staff and members of the Board of Governors, Missouri Southern Foundation Board and the Alumni Association Board. Each candidate will meet with the University Vice Presidents and those who would be his direct reports. In addition, an open meeting with the campus community will take place from 1:15 - 1:45 p.m. in the main lobby of Spiva Library on each of the scheduled days.

The schedule for the three finalists is listed below as well as the itinerary for their visits.

Monday, July 27:


Andrew Grabau, Director of Development, University of Missouri Graduate School and the Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs, Columbia. Grabau holds a Master of Science with Distinction in Public Services from DePaul University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Missouri – Columbia. He also attended the UM-Columbia School of Law.

Thursday, July 30:

Ron Huiatt, Chief Development Officer, Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences of West Virginia, Charleston, WV. Huiatt holds a Master of Arts in Experimental Psychology from The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with honors from the University of Missouri – Columbia.

Wednesday, August 5:

Mark Parsons, Associate Vice President and Director of Gift Planning, University of Minnesota Medical Foundation, Minneapolis, MN. Parsons holds a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Administration from the University of Minnesota, a J.D. (magna cum laude) from William Mitchell College of Law, a Master of Divinity from United Theological Seminary, and a Bachelor of Arts in American History from the University of Minnesota.

Members of the Search Committee included MSSU President Dr. Bruce Speck, who served as Chair; Mrs. Carolyn Phelps, chairwoman of the Missouri Southern Foundation of Board of Directors; Mrs. Rayma Bekebrock Davis, Vice President of the Missouri Southern Foundation of Board of Directors; and Foundation Board members Mr. Bill Gipson, President and CEO of Empire District Electric Co., and Mr. Don Swanson, AAMS Financial Advisor for Edward Jones. Also serving on the Search Committee are current MSSU Board of Governors members Mrs. Nancy Perry and Mr. Richard Walter.

Itinerary

Day 1

Arrival in Joplin

Dinner with the Search Committee at President’s home

Day 2

7:00 - 8:00 a.m. Breakfast meeting with Dr. Terri Agee, Senior Vice President, and Dr. Brad Kleindl, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Robert W. Plaster School of Business Administration

8:15 - 9:00 a.m. Meeting with Lee Elliff Pound, Director of Missouri Southern Alumni Association; Rod Surber, Director of University Relations & Marketing; Sandra Lovett, Grants Writer; and Sharon Fraser, Missouri Southern Foundation Secretary.

9:15 - 10:00 a.m. Meeting with Curt Betebenner, Director of the Missouri Southern Foundation; and Dr. John Tiede, Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving

10:15 - 11:00 a.m. Meeting with Jared Bruggeman, MSSU Athletics Director

11:15 - 1:00 p.m. Lunch meeting with MSSU Board of Governors, Missouri Southern Foundation Board, and Alumni Association Board

1:15 - 1:45 p.m. Open meeting for campus community, Main Lobby, Spiva Library

2:00 - 2:30 p.m. Meeting with Debbie Dutch Kelley, Director of Human Resources

2:30 - 3:00 p.m. Meeting with MSSU President Dr. Bruce Speck

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The hits just keep on a'comin at MSSU.

In addition to this fundraising position fiasco (did Bruce take a pay cut approximate to the proportion of his job that was supposed to be oriented to fundraising?), it will be interesting to see who will apply for the VPAA job, now that Messick and Oakes have, within weeks of each other, strangely and coincidentally re-discovered their passion for being in front of the classroom.

Anonymous said...

None of them will meet with the prez at 2:30. They will all run after that 2pm meeting. Why do they have to meet with HR before they are offered the job? Do they need the HR director's approval or something? Someone thinks she runs the U.

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:44

Going observation. I've long been baffled by DDK's position at MSSU. Since when is the director of HR given such authority? It's extremely odd and I highly doubt that HR department heads in other universities regularly interview candidates for upper staff or administration positions not directly impacting on the job of HR.

Over the years, though, I've been literally stumped by the amount of authority her position yields. Often times I've heard about her overruling people who would be, at comparable universities, far above her in status. I've also heard of many people above her make decisions "contingent" on the "okay" of DDK. Odd to say that least. From what I've heard, the HR office does not work to "make things happen" for the U; instead, the U bends like a pretzel to meet the rigid, inflexible, and unresponsive demands of HR.

Or so I hear.

Anonymous said...

Is Ron Huiatt still employed by the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences of West Virginia? If you go to their website, he's not listed. See www.theclaycenter.org/about/contact/staff.aspx