UNI's Jim Wohlpart got widespread support from campus

A survey seeking feedback on three finalists for the University of Northern Iowa's next president found widespread support for Interim President Jim Wohlpart — especially among administrators, staff, students and the broader community.

Faculty was the only campus group that didn't collectively rate him the highest on a majority of the 12 questions posed by a search firm.

Rather, Montana State University-Billings Chancellor Mark Nook, who ultimately got the job, in every category earned higher marks from the faculty than either Wohlpart or the other finalist, former Temple University President Neil Theobald.

Nook is set to start Feb. 1 as UNI's 11th president.

Wohlpart was promoted from provost to interim president when former UNI President Bill Ruud announced last summer he was leaving to become president of the private Marietta College in Ohio.

Even though he was not selected for the president's job, Wohlpart said Tuesday he plans to continue as UNI provost.

'On Feb. 1, when President Nook takes office, I will return to the position of provost and executive vice president for academic affairs,' he said in an email. 'I look forward to reconnecting to academic affairs and continuing the good work that we have going on in that division.'

Wohlpart said he was excited about the 'wealth of experience' Nook brings to campus and believes he'll move UNI forward in implementing its mission and plan.

'We have already met and have begun to establish a great working relationship, which will only grow in time,' Wohlpart wrote. 'We have a similar leadership philosophy that focuses on serving the campus, local, and state communities; is collaborative, inclusive, and transparent; and desires to elevate this remarkable university.'

Although administrators, staff, students and community members more often on the survey said they 'strongly agree' that Wohlpart met the desired qualifications, the faculty responses illustrate how the hiring of Nook at UNI differs from the 2015 selection of Bruce Harreld as the University of Iowa president.

The Iowa Board of Regents drew sharp criticism from the UI campus for choosing a business executive despite broad criticism — especially among faculty.

The UI Faculty Senate cast a vote of no confidence in the board for its selection of Harreld, and the American Association of University Professors last summer sanctioned the UI for the board's disregard of faculty opinion and shared governance values.

At the outset of the UNI search, critics of the UI search said they would be watching the UNI search closely.

UI and UNI faculty members met with AAUP senior program officer Hans-Joerg Tiede in September to discuss the sanction and under what circumstances it might be lifted. Tiede said at the time that its removal would 'primarily involve a change in policy.'

'It should somehow be a policy change that recognizes what the role of the faculty in a presidential search should be and that somehow would be consistent with the AAUP's principles,' Tiede said.

AAUP sanctions don't come with financial penalties, but they notify the association's nearly 50,000 members that 'unsatisfactory conditions of academic government exist at the institution in question,' AAUP documents show.

The UNI search also differed from the UI's in that the search committee wasn't disbanded after identifying finalists.

Rather, it was asked to make a final report to the regents after the finalists spoke on the UNI campus in public forums.

The search committee commissioned the feedback survey following those town halls, charging UNI's Center for Social and Behavioral Research to ask respondents to rank candidates from one (for strongly disagree) to five (for strongly agree) on a list of 12 desired qualifications. The survey also included room for comments.

According to results provided The Gazette, of the more than 830 people who ranked the candidates, Wohlpart earned the most 'strongly agree' votes in nine categories — including demonstration of 'excellent communication skills,' 'a transparent, open-door, and open-mind style,' and 'commitment to developing and supporting a diverse, multicultural, inclusive, university culture.'

When looking at the responses by group, staff gave Wohlpart the highest average score on nine of 12 questions — tying him with Nook in two categories. Administrators gave him the highest ranking on 10 of 12; and students and community members gave him the highest average score on every question.

Faculty rated Nook the best on every question. Theobald did not top the other candidates on any question according to any group, the results show.

UNI's faculty union collected feedback through a similar but separate survey, which they provided to the regents before a vote.

UNI associate professor and union president Joe Gorton said the board's decision to hire Nook 'was consistent with the overall results from United Faculty's survey.'

But he declined to release the results, saying it would not be fair to the candidates to make the data public.

The Board of Regents provided The Gazette with comments from the open-ended portion of its search firm's survey, although they redacted the names of the commenters.

Highlights

Neil Theobald

Theobald received mostly negative comments, with many raising concerns about his controversial departure from Temple — from which he resigned in August under threat of being fired after his board of trustees issued a vote of no confidence.

Theobald while at Temple also took heat for not coming out strongly against Bill Cosby, a former Temple trustee who has been battling allegations of sexual assault.

'I do not believe that he was able to effectively explain away all of the controversy at Temple and, for that reason, I would not consider him a viable candidate,' one administrator wrote.

'He has a lot of baggage,' one faculty member wrote, and a staff member who reporting having breakfast with Theobald took issue with the way he talked about Cosby.

'I was shocked that he repeatedly made remarks similar to, 'He's a great man. He's a dear friend of mine. He swears he didn't do anything wrong,'' according to the staff member. 'These statements are unacceptable.'

Others also noted Theobald's comments about Cosby as concerning.

'Question his judgment on stating Bill Cosby 'is a great guy,'' a staff member wrote. 

Theobald did receive some positive comments, including several 'strong candidate' statements.

'He would be a great fit for the university,' one person wrote.

Jim Wohlpart

Comments for Wohlpart were mixed, with administrators, staff, students, and community members providing almost all positive statements, and faculty offering some negative feedback.

'Please consider not interrupting the current 'flow' yet again,' one supportive administrator wrote.

'Jim is one of the best administrative hires we have made during my 20-year tenure here at UNI, and I think we should do everything we can to retain him,' another administrator wrote.

Among the negative feedback, one faculty member said, 'A major problem is his lack of executive managerial experience.'

Another wrote in all caps, 'Do not hire Jim Wohlpart as president of UNI. You will have a vote of no-confidence in no time.'

Mark Nook

Most of the comments about Nook were positive, with administrators praising his experience as 'the highest level of any of the three candidates.'

'He has a very firm grasp on the strengths of UNI and would be a huge added value to the executive team,' another administrator wrote.

Several of the commenters pleaded with the board to hire Nook, although he too received some negative reaction.

'His responses to questions were generally superficial, incomplete, or simply did not address key parts of the question,' one faculty member wrote.

'This was the worst candidate by far,' one person wrote. 'He was totally unable to answer questions, except with precooked answers.'

l Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com

UNI Search Comments (PDF) UNI Search Comments (Text)