Candidates visit campus
By Scott Rochat
rrochat@emporiagazette.com
The five candidates for the presidency of Emporia State University were revealed this morning.
Two of the five are from Illinois: Sharon Hahs of Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville and Joseph Rallo of Western Illinois University. The others are John Folkins of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Bernie Patterson of Oklahoma City University and Michael Lane of the University of Arkansas at Ft. Smith.
“These are outstanding candidates and we are so excited to bring them to campus,” said Janice DeBauge, a member of the search committee. “Each one of them has a very broad range of experience and each has experience that will be valuable to Emporia State University. We’re looking forward to them getting to know the campus and community better, and vice versa.”
DeBauge also praised John Hicks, the consultant who assisted the search.
“He has been extremely important in the committee being able to bring these fine candidates to campus,” DeBauge said.
Schedule of campus visits:
• Sept. 5 and 6 — Sharon Hahs, provost director for special projects at Southern Illinois University since July 1. A chemistry professor, Hahs has served at the university since 1995, first as dean of the college of arts and sciences, then as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. She has also served at the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg and at Metropolitan State College in Denver.
• Sept. 7 and 8 — John Folkins, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Bowling Green State University since 2000. Folkins’ academic background is in speech pathology and audiology. Before his present position, he was at the University of Iowa where he taught from 1977 to 1993 and then served as associate provost from 1993 to 2000.
• Sept. 11 and 12 — Joseph Rallo, the provost and academic vice president at Western Illinois University since 2003. Previously, Rallo was dean of the college of business and administration and the graduate school of administration at the University of Colorado’s Colorado Springs campus for four years. He has also held administrative or teaching positions at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich.; Michigan Technological University in Houghton; the U.S. Air Force Academy; and Rutgers University.
• Sept. 12 and 13 — Michael Lane, the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith since 2005. Prior to that, Lane had held a similar position at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania. He has also been the business dean of Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne and the associate business dean at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill.
• Sept. 14 and 15 — Bernie Patterson, the vice president for academic affairs at Oklahoma City University since 2002 and the university’s provost since 2003. Before that, Patterson was dean of the college of arts and sciences at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville starting in 1994, and taught and held administrative positions at Valdosta State University in Georgia from 1977 until 1993.
Biographies
John W. Folkins
John W. Folkins began as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Bowling Green State University in May 2000. As chief academic officer, he provides leadership in the development, implementation, and maintenance of academic programs and services. Under his guidance, the unique missions of the academic colleges and centers unite in a common, sustainable vision that undergirds the learning community across the campus and extends its impact across a global society.
Prior to joining the BGSU community, Dr. Folkins served for seven years as Associate Provost at the University of Iowa. In that capacity, his responsibilities included enrollment management, undergraduate education, strategic planning, learning technology, program review, and space assignments; as well as, budgetary oversight for the Office of Admissions, Office of the Registrar, Undergraduate Academic Advising Center, Evaluation and Examination Center, Office of Financial Aid, and Center for Teaching.
Dr. Folkins joined the University of Iowa as an assistant professor of speech pathology and audiology in 1977 and was promoted to associate professor in 1982 and to professor in 1986. From 1985 to 1993, he was Chair of one of the largest departments of speech pathology and audiology. As a faculty member, he was involved in teaching at all levels — from introductory classes to graduate seminars.
His research is related to the physiological processes of speech production. Although most of this work deals with adults who speak normally, he has studied the speech of individuals who stutter, are deaf, have a cleft palate, or are neurologically impaired. Analyses include acoustic, aerodynamic, electromyographic, and perceptual measurements; as well as transduction of tongue, jaw, lip, and soft palate movements. He has published over 50 refereed articles; directed 19 dissertations and theses, and given more than 75 national and international presentations. His research was supported by more than 20 grants from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, the National Institute of Dental Research, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Throughout his career, Dr. Folkins has been active in national scholarly and professional associations. He has served on the task force on K-16 education of the American Association of Universities and the Council on Undergraduate Education of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. From 1989 to 1992, he served on the Advisory Council of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders and he was chosen by Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan to be a panelist in the development of the 1992 Strategic Plan for the National Institutes of Health. He has twice been asked to testify before the U. S. Senate in support of federal funding for research and graduate education. From 1993 to 1995, he served as President of the American Association of Phonetic Sciences and, in 1993, he received the Award for Distinguished Contributions from the Council of Graduate Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders. He is a Fellow of both the Acoustical Society of America and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Dr. Folkins has served as Editor for the Journal of Speech and Hearing Research and Associate Editor for the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
A native of California, Dr. Folkins received Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science degrees in speech from the University of Redlands. He continued graduate work at the University of Washington where he completed the Doctor of Philosophy degree in speech and hearing sciences and conducted postdoctoral research in the Departments of Orthodontics and Physiology and Biophysics.
Dr. Sharon K. Hahs
Office of the Provost & Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Box 1021
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL 62026-1021
(618) 650-3779
6906 Quail Walk
Edwardsville, IL 62025
(618) 659-0554
shahs@siue.edu
Education
Ph.D. , Inorganic Chemistry, University of New Mexico, 1974
Dissertation: Syntheses and Characterizations of Vanadyl(IV) Complexes with Dihydroxydicarboxylate Ligands
M.S., Inorganic Chemistry, University of New Mexico, 1972
B.A., Chemistry, Illinois Wesleyan University, 1970
Positions Held
2000-Present
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and Professor of Chemistry
1995–2000
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Chemistry
(9/97–8/98)
Acting Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
1984-1994
University of South Carolina at Spartanburg, Spartanburg, SC Dean, School of Humanities and Sciences, and Professor of Chemistry
1974-1984
Metropolitan State College, Denver, CO
Teaching: Assistant, Associate and Professor of Chemistry (Joint appointment in Chemistry at the University of Colorado at Denver for graduate teaching in 1979-84)
Administration: Special Assistant to the Vice President for Academic Affairs (1982-83); Acting Chair, Department of Chemistry (12/80-6/81)
Administrative Experience
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, SIUE (2000-present): Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is a comprehensive university with a full-time faculty of 600 serving over 13,500 undergraduate, masters and professional students. In addition to its 2660 acre campus, it includes a Center in East St. Louis, a School of Dental Medicine in Alton, and a School of Nursing site in Springfield. SIUE provides forty-three baccalaureate degree programs, and sixty-three graduate and professional programs, including the Doctor of Dental Medicine and the Doctor of Pharmacy. The chief academic officer is responsible for the administration of instruction, research and public service programs and a budget of seventy million dollars in state funds and forty million dollars in grants and local funds. Seventeen individuals report directly to the Provost: Nine College and School Deans, the Associate Provost and two Assistant Provosts, the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management, and the directors of Continuing Education, Institutional Research, the East St. Louis Center and the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center.
Special accomplishments:
• implementation of the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) as the process for reaffirmation of Higher Learning Commission accreditation;
• design and facilitation of a two-year strategic planning process for the campus, resulting in new guiding statements and an on-going focus on addressing and measuring progress on the Long-term Goals;
• primary responsibility for the development of the new School of Pharmacy;
• emphasis on faculty and staff development including the introduction of a paid two-week New Faculty Orientation program, presentation of workshops on SIUE promotion and tenure, and creation of campus-wide training for new department chairs;
• implementation of the Teaching, Learning and Technology Roundtable (October 2000-February 2002);
• oversight of the hiring of 253 full-time faculty, including 132 women, thirty-one minority and seventeen international faculty for the academic years of 2001-02, through 2005-2006;
• creation and development of a dynamic leadership team, including the hiring of six deans, two directors, and an assistant provost;
• receipt of a very positive three-year review (Spring 2003) by the Committee for Higher Administrator Performance Appraisal (CHAPA);
• critical contribution to SIUE receiving its first endowed professorship; key role in creating system of development director positions; charter member of the Meridian Society;
• oversight of the Objectives Project and BRIDGE Project to reform SIUE’s General Education program.
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, SIUE (1995-2000): The College of Arts and Sciences provides most of the general education for all SIUE students and offers fifty-eight degree programs; it generates approximately 60% of the student credit hours and 40% of the graduates. The College consists of nineteen academic departments and eight additional units, including campus-wide services of academic advising and coursework for academic development. I had responsibility for hiring; the evaluation of 270 full-time and 50-75 part-time faculty, 110 professional and civil service staff; salary, promotion and tenure recommendations; and administration of a budget of over eighteen million dollars.
The College of Arts and Sciences was created July 1, 1995 by the consolidation of four academic schools and several other units. I assumed the deanship in January 1995 to guide the transition. I was responsible for the oversight and creation of all policies, operating procedures, and administrative structure. I also served on a variety of institution-wide committees, including the University Planning and Budget Council, and chaired the SIU Presidential Search Advisory Committee (1999-2000).
Special accomplishments:
• guiding the creation by the College membership of the CAS Statement of Desired Characteristics and Capabilities of Graduates;
• completion of core policies and procedures;
• emphasis on faculty and staff development including a year-long orientation for first-year faculty;
• hiring of ninety-four tenure-track faculty, including forty-four women, eighteen minority faculty, and five international faculty;
• establishing traditions of connections, collaborative processes, and interdisciplinary research and teaching;
• initiation of the Criminal Justice degree program which was approved in 2000;
• implementation of the Master of Social Work degree through candidacy status; it is now fully accredited;
• hiring of the first development officer for CAS and raising $90,000 for the instructional greenhouse;
• receipt of an overwhelmingly positive Four-Year Review of my performance (1998-1999).
Dean, School of Humanities and Sciences, USCS (1984-1994): The University of South Carolina at Spartanburg (now called University of South Carolina Upstate) is a public baccalaureate institution of approximately 5,000 students. During my tenure at USCS, the School of Humanities and Sciences provided general education for all USCS students and offered fourteen degree programs; it generated 70% of campus FTE and 40% of the graduates. I had responsibility for hiring; the evaluation of 88 full-time and 25-45 part-time faculty; salary, promotion and tenure recommendations; and administration of a budget of over five million dollars. I also served on a variety of campus-wide committees as well as the USC System Research Advisory Committee (1984-1994).
Special accomplishments:
• planning and implementation of six new degree programs;
• completion of thirteen successful external program reviews by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education;
• development and implementation of a well-received five-year salary adjustment plan to bring faculty salaries in line with those at comparable South Carolina institutions;
• implementation of an extensive, participatory strategic planning process for the School;
• hiring of fifty-three faculty including twenty-three women (four of whom were the first in their discipline at USCS), six minority faculty, and five international faculty;
• design and construction of science and fine arts buildings;
• creation of a professional development program for faculty.
Special Assistant to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, MSC(1982-83): Metropolitan State College is a public baccalaureate institution of approximately 10,000 students. I had responsibility for program review, curriculum, personnel concerns, inter-institutional concerns, planning, restructuring of Academic Affairs, budget process, improvements in Academic Improvement Center and Academic Advising and Resource Center; also, participation in preparation of document on compensation administration at Consortium of State Colleges office and presentation to Board of Trustees; brief training period in Business Affairs at MSC.
Acting Chair, Department of Chemistry, MSC(12/80-6/81): Evaluation of probationary faculty, hiring of part-time and regular faculty, long range needs, advising and budget.
Michael R. Lane
Michael R. Lane, dean and professor of Business Administration at the Campbell School of Business, Berry College in Georgia, has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs at Mansfield University."The appointment of Dr. Michael Lane as our provost culminates a comprehensive national search for a new chief academic officer," Mansfield President John Halstead said in making the announcement. "Dr. Lane will bring a fresh perspective combining his background as a dean, a long-term faculty member, and an energetic member of the business community."
"Mansfield is moving forward to bigger and better things and I welcome the opportunity to be a part of that," Lane said in accepting the position. "I enjoy an atmosphere where the most important thing we do is teach and the students are the most important people."
Prior to his position at Berry College Lane was Dean of Business and Management Sciences at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne and Associate Dean of the College of Business Administration at Bradley University. He holds a Ph.D in accounting from Texas A&M, an M.S. in accounting from Northeastern University and a B.S. in finance from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. He is also a certified public accountant and has been published widely in refereed journals, especially on the topic of ethics. "Dr. Lane is a strong advocate of shared governance and continuous improvement and will bring new ideas in the areas of faculty recruitment and development, alliances with business and industry, technology, and enrollment management," Halstead said.
Lane replaces Joseph Moore who left MU in June to become president of Empire State College in New York. Lane will begin his duties on August 28, the first day of classes in the new academic year at Mansfield.
Bernie Patterson
Bernie Patterson became vice president for academic affairs on August 1, 2002. In 2003, the university’s board of trustees created the position of university provost and appointed Patterson as the university’s first provost.
Patterson holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Arts in criminology from State University of New York at Albany, an Education Specialist degree and a Master of Science from Central Missouri State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Technology from Missouri Western State University.
At Oklahoma City University, Patterson has focused on strengthening the system of shared governance at the university by proposing to the faculty senate the establishment of a faculty-majority academic council, and working with the university president to add a faculty member and a student as voting members of the university’s board of trustees. He has also established the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, the Office of International Education, the Office of Instructional Technology, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and the Fine Arts Institute. Other initiatives include the university’s strategic and tactical plan, campus master plan, assessment plan, summer reading program for incoming first-year students, enrollment management programs to increase enrollment and retention of students, faculty fellow program, visiting scholars program, national student scholar development coordinator, Phi Kappa Phi chapter, and a focus on faculty recruitment including an emphasis on faculty diversity.
Patterson came to Oklahoma City University from the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia College and State University, where he had been dean since 1994. He guided the college through a critical period of transition as the university refocused its mission, becoming Georgia’s public liberal arts institution. Other initiatives in Georgia included expansion of the arts across the university and beyond, including an annual summer arts festival, arts after school program for at-risk middle school students, and production of two jazz CDs; extensive interdisciplinary studies program, including nine interdisciplinary general education courses; and several student recruitment and retention programs, including service learning, cluster courses, and undergraduate research and creative projects. Previously, he was assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Valdosta State University, where he began his career in higher education as an instructor in 1977.
In 2000, Patterson received the Powell-Whipple Collaboration Award for his work in bringing together the School of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, and master teachers in their joint mission of preparing future teachers. In 2001, Patterson was asked to co-direct two national seminars for academic department chairs. He currently serves as a consultant-evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. His research, publications, and conference presentations have focused on collaborations between arts and sciences and education, crime victimization of middle and senior high school students, job stress among criminal justice professionals, and public agency consolidation. He has testified as an expert witness in several criminal prosecutions regarding the validity of eyewitness identification.
Patterson’s professional activities include the Institute for Educational Management (class of 2000) at Harvard University, a Wye Faculty Fellowship at the Aspen Institute, and a Fulbright tour in Tanzania, Africa, in 1992. He has led or participated in state-level international delegations to Belize, the Czech Republic, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Ukraine, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and the United Republic of Tanzania. Patterson currently oversees academic programs in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tianjin (PRC), and Vancouver.
Patterson and his wife, Annette, have a daughter, Susan. Their leisure activities are horticulture and boating.
Dr. Joseph C. Rallo
Dr. Joseph C. Rallo (RAH-low) dean College of Business and Administration and Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, has been named provost and academic vice president at Western Illinois University.
President Al Goldfarb said Rallo, who was highly recommended by the Provost Search Committee, will bring a new perspective to the University. He will begin duties as provost July 1. He replaces Dr. Eric Stiffler who will return to a faculty position in philosophy and religious studies. Stiffler, who has been in the provost’s office since 1989, has served as acting provost since August 2001.
"Dr. Rallo’s experience in the delivery of academic instruction and services, including work with satellite campuses; his commitment to student experiences in field studies, internships and study abroad; and his enthusiasm for Western’s strong undergraduate mission were factors which made him the top choice in a field of exceptional candidates," Goldfarb said.
Rallo was one of five finalists brought to the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses during March and April for interviews with University constituencies. The other finalists were Dr. Judith Plawecki, associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School, Spalding University, Louisville, KY; Dr. Eric Thomas, associate vice president for undergraduate studies, Illinois State University, Normal; Dr. Michael Harris, associate provost, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti; and Dr. David B. Stephens, professor of management and dean emeritus Utah State University, Logan and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Management, Texas A & M University, Laredo.
"The search committee chaired by Faculty Senate Chair Thomas Tomlinson should be commended for bringing individuals with outstanding credentials to interact with the University community," Goldfarb said. "The campus community in Macomb and the Quad Cities looks forward to working with Provost Rallo."
Rallo has served as dean of the College of Business and Administration and Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Colorado since 1999. Previously he was dean of the College of Business at Ferris State University, after serving as chair of the department of management at Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI.
His academic and administrative career includes service as director of international programs and associate professor of international business at Michigan Technological University. He also served as director of the West European Program and associate professor of international relations at the United States Air Force Academy and associate professor of international relations at Rutgers University. He was a Fulbright Scholar and a NATO fellow and chaired the executive committee for the Japan Center for Michigan Universities from 1991-1999.
He has published articles and made presentations on international business topics, the European Union and aerospace. He has testified before Congressional committees on Science, Space and Technology and peer reviewed business grants for the U.S. Department of Education Business and International Education Program and the U.S. Department of Education Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program.
Rallo has a bachelor’s degree in Russian history from Lafayette College, PA, and a jurist doctorate from Western New England College, MA. He has both a master’s degree and Ph.D. from The Maxwell School at Syracuse University, NY.
His annual salary will be $150,000.
(C) The Emporia Gazette, 2006
Lane Selected as President for Emporia State University
Michael Lane will be the next president of Emporia State University, the Kansas Board of Regents announced today.
This will be the third university Lane has worked for in the past two years. He became provost at the University of Arkansas a year and a half ago and before that held the same position at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania.
"We're extremely impressed by Dr. Lane's experience, character and the enthusiasm he will bring with him to Emporia," regents chairman Nelson Galle said in the announcement. "I'm confident that Dr. Lane's abilities will serve ESU, the Emporia community and the state of Kansas well for many years to come."
The Board of Regents had not released a figure for Lane's salary by press time today.
Lane will be formally introduced to the ESU campus and the Emporia community on Friday morning. A time has not yet been announced. A reception will be held at 2 p.m. in the Colonial Ballroom of the ESU Memorial Union.
During his visit to Emporia earlier this month, Lane said he had no tolerance for micromanagement or for anyone who needed to be micromanaged.
"It's a waste of my time and it's a waste of the manager's time," Lane told a group at the Trusler Business Center last week. "And if I'm micromanaging the manager, I don't need the manager."
During his Emporia visit, Lane said that public universities have to pursue more private funding in light of declining state support. He also said that ESU needs to look at its marketing plan to make sure it's not just positioning itself as "the cheap school."
"We need to look at tuition and whether to raise it, but we also have to be conscious that, as a state university, we need to remain affordable for those who have difficulty affording higher education."
He also said college students need more world experience.
"I've often said that if I woke up tomorrow and became the czar of higher education, my first decree would be that every student would spend some time abroad as part of their education," he told an audience at the Memorial Union last week. "This is a very small planet we're occupying and it's getting smaller every day."
Lane holds a bachelor's degree in finance and master's and doctoral degrees in accounting. His wife Peggy is also an academic.
At Fort Smith, Lane was also on the board of directors of the local Girl Scout council, a member of the Rotary Club and a baritone in the Fort Smith Chorale.
Lane has been in education since 1978, when he became an assistant professor at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. He stayed with Bradley until 1994, eventually becoming an associate dean and the director of the MBA program.
From 1994 to 1998, he was the dean of the business school at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. He then moved on to take a similar position at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, which he held until 2000, when he moved to Mansfield.
At Mansfield University, Lane was part of an effort to work with the state, Temple University and a local hospital to establish a free dental clinic. By the time he left for Arkansas in 2005, the clinic was serving 2,200 patients.
The university also increased its recruiting efforts during his time as provost. Minority enrollment grew from 6 to 10 percent and retention of minority students increased from 62 to 69 percent.
His time in Arkansas was a transition period for the school, which has been transforming from a community college to a university.
Lane plans to jump in
Michael Lane was already on the way back to Arkansas when he learned he had become the new president of Emporia State University.
Lane had been interviewed privately by the Board of Regents on Tuesday. As he drove back to the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, where he serves as provost, a call came on his cell phone offering him the job.
"It has been a hectic 24 hours," Lane said Wednesday.
It's going to be a hectic month and a half, for that matter. Lane starts with Emporia State University on Nov. 1, about two months earlier than had originally been projected. His wife Peggy, an instructor at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. will not be able to join him until the semester ends.
It's not a separation he welcomes. But it does have one advantage.
"It gives me the opportunity to get a jump start," Lane said. "If I work 16 to 18-hour days, I'm not taking any time away from her."
Lane will be formally introduced to the campus at a 10 a.m. press conference Friday in the rotunda of Plumb Hall. There will be a 2 p.m. reception the same day in the Colonial Ballroom of the ESU Memorial Union.
Members of the search committee said Lane had had several strong points as a candidate, such as his experience with smaller schools, his comfort in working with foundations and his ability to learn a new situation.
"Dr. Lane has a very high level of energy," said Regent Janice DeBauge, who was also part of the search committee. "I think he'll bring a lot of good ideas to ESU. And I think he will be very effective in working in the higher education system of Kansas. He's good with systems."
Art Bloomer of Wichita, a member of the search committee, said he had been impressed with Lane's history of working in difficult situations. At Mansfield, Lane helped build recruitment at a college that was far from urban centers. At Arkansas, he came to a school that was turning from a community college into a university.
"He's the kind of guy where he's always been in the underdog position and managed to come out on top," Bloomer said.
That may be needed when it comes to financing. A report by the Board of Regents showed state spending on Kansas universities is going down, leaving families to bear more of the burden. Lane said that one thing he wanted to do early on was to sit down with development director Sandra Kramer and see where the school's fund-raising efforts are at this point. He also said he would ask the public relations staff to put together a marketing proposal for ESU.
"I prefer to leave that to the experts on the marketing side," Lane said.
Lane said his own visit to Emporia had been very positive.
"I felt so comfortable on the campus," he said. "I think that may be why I was chosen. If people felt that comfortable with me, that probably had a lot to do with it."
Rod Sobieski, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a member of the search committee, said that Lane brought a strong resume to the table.
"He's certainly highly qualified administratively," Sobieski said. "He's been a successful individual in his various roles who has the skills to move ESU forward."
The search for a president has been a months-long process, with the committee sifting through 65 applicants to reach its five finalists. Those five in turn were brought to the campus over a two-week period before the committee made its report and the Regents made their choice.
"It's something I would not want to start again next month," Sobieski said. "A lot of people did a lot of work that resulted in a quality candidate."
Lane will succeed interim president John Schwenn. The last full-time president at Emporia State University, Kay Schallenkamp, left after the spring semester to take up the presidency of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D.
Ironically, Lane had been one of the people helping the Fort Smith campus find a new chancellor.
His first couple of months, he said, would probably be spent getting a grip on the essentials of his new position, as well as learning the campus and the community. At this point, he said, his learning curve is everything.
"I feel as though I want to have a complete understanding of the institution as quickly as I can, yet obviously that takes time," Lane said. "It's going to be a wonderful challenge."
And at 54, it's a challenge he's ready to meet for the long term.
"I think a good period of time for a president to get things done and have an impact that can last is 10 years," he said, adding that that would put him close to retirement. "So I expect and hope that this is the last stop of my career."
