NAICU Membership Elects 2007-08 Board of Directors

March 14, 2007

Cornell College President Leslie H. Garner, Jr., Named Chair

WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 7—The membership of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities have selected 15 new board directors and four new board officers for 2007-08. NAICU is the leading national association representing private higher education, serving as the unified voice of nearly 1,000 independent college and university presidents, and specialized, state, and regional association executives. NAICU member institutions enroll nine of every 10 students attending a private college or university in the United States.

Members of NAICU’s board of director set the association’s agenda on federal higher education policy; actively encourage support of NAICU priorities and initiatives; and oversee the association’s financial administration. Members serve three-year terms.

“NAICU’s new board members and officers were selected by their peers because of their expertise in the field, proven leadership, and commitment to America’s college students,” said NAICU President David L. Warren. “They assume their responsibilities at a time of great challenge and transformation for American higher education.

“The federal budget deficit, growing student financial need, increasingly competitive global economy, and today’s culture of accountability are among the dynamics affecting higher education,” Warren said.

“Decisions made in Washington over the coming months and years will have significant consequences for whether students can afford to attend the institution of their choice, the ability of our institutions to maintain high academic standards, and the extent to which the federal government reaches into the management of our institutions and the privacy of our students,” Warren said. “Congress and the administration have the opportunity to make college more affordable, safeguard the American system of decentralized higher education, and work constructively with institutions to advance the nation’s economic strength, security, and science leadership. Our new board members and leaders will be critical to our efforts to make these goals a reality.”New NAICU Board Officers

Leslie H. Garner, Jr., president of Cornell College in Mount Vernon, IA, has been elected chair of the board of directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). His one-year term as chair of NAICU=s board was ratified February 6 by member college and university presidents at the 2007 NAICU Annual Meeting. Vice chair of the board in 2006-07, Garner succeeds David E. Shi, president of Furman University in Greenville, SC., who remains on the board as past chair.

Garner, who has led Cornell College since 1994, is the institution’s 14th president. He came to Cornell from North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, NC, where he served as president from 1987 to 1994. Before assuming the presidency, Garner held several positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was a business administration professor, and directed the university’s Young Executives Institute, University Management Development Program, and Government Executives Institute. Garner sits on the boards of directors for numerous civic organizations in Cedar Rapids, IA. He earned his doctoral and master’s degrees in public policy from Harvard University, and his bachelor’s from the University of North Carolina.

Victor J. Boschini, Jr., chancellor of Texas Christian University in Forth Worth, TX, has beennamed vice chair of the board of directors. He will become chair in 2008-09. Boschini assumed  office as Texas Christian University’s 10th chancellor in 2003. Boschini came to TCU after serving as president of Illinois State University in Normal, IL, from 1999 to 2003. At Illinois State, Dr. Boschini held the positions of vice president for student affairs and associate professor of education. Earlier, he held administrative and teaching posts at Butler University and Indiana University. Boschini received his bachelor’s degree from Mount Union College, master’s in personnel from Bowling Green State University, and doctorate in higher education administration from Indiana University.



James T. Harris III
, president of Widener University in Chester, PA, has been named secretary. Harris became the ninth president of Widener University in 2002. Prior to Widener, Harris served eight years as president of Defiance College in Defiance, OH. Earlier, he held advancement and teaching positions at Wright State University, College of Mount Saint Joseph, and Pennsylvania State University. Harris has degrees from the University of Toledo, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, and Penn State.

Loren P. Gresham, president of Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, OK, has been named treasurer.

Eight new members were elected to three-year terms on the NAICU board representing the associations national regions:

Jonathan DeFelice, OSB, President, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, N.H.  Region I (Conn., Maine, Mass., N.H., R.I., Vt.)

Mary Eileen O’Brien, O.P., President, Dominican College, Orangeburg, N.Y. Region II (Del., D.C., Md., N.J., N.Y.)

Francis Marie Thrailkill
, O.P., President, College of Mount Saint Joseph, Cincinnati, Ohio Region III (Ky., Ohio, Pa., W.Va.)

Ruth A. Knox, President, Wesleyan College, Macon, Ga. Region IV ( Fla., Ga., N.C., S.C., Va.)

Stephan G. Jennings, President, University of Evansville, Evansville, Ind. Region V (Ill., Ind., Mich., Wis.)

Lanny Hall, President, Howard Payne University, Brownwood, Texas Region VI (Ala., Ark., La., Miss., Okla., Tenn. Texas)

Carl E. Zylstra, President, Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa Region VII (Iowa, Kan., Minn., Mo., Neb., N.D., S.D.)

Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., President, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Wash. Region VIII (Alaska, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Hawaii, Idaho, Mont., N.M., Nev., Ore., Utah,Wash., Wyo.)

Four presidents have been named to three-year terms as at-large members of the board:

John E. Bassett, President, Clark University, Worcester, Mass.

JoAnne Boyle, President, Seton Hill University, Greensburg, Pa..

Mark D. Gearan, President, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, N.Y.

Elaine Tuttle Hansen, President, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine

One individual has been selected to serve a three-year term as a representative of the National Association of Independent College and University State Executives:

Abraham M. Lackman, President, Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities in New York, Albany, N.Y.

One individual has been selected to serve a three-year term as a representative of the NAICU Secretariat, an advisory board made up of the executives of specialized and regional independent college and university association:

Wanda Bigham, Assistant General Secretary, National Association of Schools and Colleges of the United Methodist Church, Nashville, Tenn.

One individual has been selected to serve a three-year term as a non-voting member of the board:

Chris Simmons, Associate Vice President for Federal Relations, Duke University, Durham, N.C.

NAICU serves as the unified national voice of independent higher education. Since 1976, the association has represented private colleges and universities on policy issues with the federal government, such as those affecting student aid, taxation, and government regulation. With nearly 1,000 member institutions and associations, NAICU reflects the diversity of private, nonprofit higher education in the United States. NAICU members enroll 85 percent of all students attending private institutions. They include traditional liberal arts colleges, major research universities, comprehensive universities, church- and faith-related institutions, historically black colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions, single-sex colleges, art institutions, two-year colleges, and schools of law, medicine, engineering, business, and other professions.

 

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