UAF chancellor looking for a new job
Originally published Monday, March 24, 2008 at 1:24 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 12:04 a.m.
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University of Alaska Fairbanks Chancellor Steve Jones formally announced Monday that he is looking for a new job.
Jones said he and his wife, Judy, would like to be closer to their children and grandchildren, who live on the East Coast.
“UAF has been our life, quite literally, for Judy and me for four years now,” Jones said in a news release. “With the arrival of two grandchildren last fall, we have found ourselves in a position where we want to be within easier reach of them. This university has been our calling, but now we feel some competition.”
Jones, who has served as UAF chancellor since 2004, has no immediate plans but hopes to be in a new position by the fall. He said he decided to announce his departure now to give University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton time to find a replacement.
“In the meantime, my passion will remain directed to UAF,” he said.
As chief executive officer for UAF, Jones oversees the university’s programs in Fairbanks and community campuses in Bethel, Dillingham, Kotzebue and Nome, as well as learning centers, extension offices and outreach locations serving more than 140 Alaska communities.
Jones is the university’s fifth chancellor and replaced Chancellor Marshall Lind.
Under Jones’ leadership, philanthropy in support of UAF has increased 45 percent, the news release stated. He also chairs the governing board of the University of the Arctic, a university consortium that connects UAF to more than 700,000 students in eight circumpolar nations.
“Steve’s contributions to UAF over four years have been significant. As a father and grandfather myself, I completely understand his desire to be closer to family,” Hamilton said. “UAF and its community campuses are incredibly important to the overall mission of the UA system. Chancellor Jones and I will work together to ensure a smooth transition.”
Hamilton plans to meet with representatives from the UAF campus, including deans, faculty and staff, as well as state and community leaders, before selecting an interim chancellor. Decisions on the interim chancellor, as well as a permanent replacement, will be made in close consultation with the Board of Regents and UAF community, he said.
Before coming to Fairbanks, Jones was vice chancellor at North Carolina State University, where he headed the university’s extension, outreach and distance and continuing education efforts. He received a bachelor’s degree in forestry and a doctorate in resources management from the State University of New York in Syracuse. Before going into academia, Jones worked for 12 years with the Union Camp Corp., a paper and allied products manufacturer.
Community Discussion
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Yeah, sure. He loves Alaska and its wunnerful people, but now he's gotta go. When has it ever been any different? Let's see if I have it down.
University of Alaska, Fairbanks goes on extensive, expensive search for the perfect leader. Major bait is a salary that seems princely/princessly.
Interviewees include highly qualified people, like the guy who makes you take off your shoes at the airport.
Everyone runs the expense account and then Voila! we get the "I have always wanted to come to help the peoples of Alaska" speech.
Time goes buy, potholes appear in the UAF parking lots. Buildings get built, or not. Another stature of Dr. "Vulture Flats" Bunnell goes up.
Then suddenly, it's "Here's my hat, what's my hurry." Projects are left incompleted to be done away with by the next guy from the airport security line.
The very least the regents can do is to require a 10-year contract. Then maybe something can get accomplished.
evenk:
Good luck with your 10 year contract idea. The university would never hire another Chancellor. I encourage you to throw your hat in the ring if you think you can do better. Like it or not, qualified people (not your airport guy scenario) to do this kind of stressful and demanding job are hard to come by in the state, so a national search is usually required. Also, like it or not, people can come to Alaska with every intent to stay, and then life takes a turn and they feel the need to move on. Or they come to Alaska and find it is not for them--it's really hard to know until you show up and give it a go.
Translation...I will have gotten vested and collected another retirement to take outside with me by the time I find a new job. This is so predictable. It's why they made the position of president vest in 10 years instead of 5. Remember the State University of New York auxiliary retitrement system? Ever notice what high regard the University of Alaska holds its own product in? Ever seen a product of the University of Alaska running things there? Me neither. Local what? I recall them looking all over the lower 48 a few years ago to find someone to run the physical plant. I guess there was no one in Alaska who could run a bunch of carpenters, plumbers, etc.
Might I suggest UAF grad Curtis Thomas? Stand-up fella, local, family guy, loves the Interior, and does a mean King Fu Fighter. Only Joan Wadlow could do a roundhouse kick better. Curtis, apply for it. If they offer you the job, take it! If you do get it...hire me for something, I'd move back tomorrow!
They always bolt after they get their 5 years in. No suprise, but does it work? UAF has grown, but also gotten much more expensive. Tough job no doubt.
Funny thing is he didn't put in his 5 years- is he really vested? Who leaves in the middle of a semester?
The article does not really say this, but he is not leaving until the end of the summer (August-ish). He just 'gave notice' this week. He is not leaving the university hanging in the middle of the semester.
This university has been our calling, but now we feel some competition.”
Good for you, Mr.Jones. That you wish to invest your time and resources in your family is admirable. We are sorry to see you go, but glad to know that you are a man who has his priorities in life in the right order. We wish you and your wife all the best.
I believe one of the perks in this position was that Dr. Jones was vested in UAF as soon as he was hired.
Requiring 10 years of service is a double-edged sword, no? If he/she is not serving the University well it's best to cut our losses and hope for a better roll of the dice next time. I'd like to think that there's someone out there who's more in-tune with Alaskans' needs.
10 years!?!?! Can you imagine what would be left of the University if it had been saddled with Joan Wadlow for 10 years? Who can forget her ignoring the no-confidence vote of the faculty and the dis-accredition of the Education department.
I'm not aware of any quality college or university in the U.S. that doesn't conduct a national search for a new chancellor/president. A national search of course includes qualified internal candidates. But to restrict the search to "home-grown" candidates would be parochial and isolate the university from the wider community of higher education. Having said that, if a qualified candidate is an alum or current/past faculty member, that would certainly be a favorable asset.
The talk of vesting is silly. Chancellor Jones is almost certainly enrolled in the "Optional Retirement Plan", which has no vesting period but also no medical benefits. It is a 401(k) plan. Since the standard retirement plan in place 4 years ago had an 8-year vesting period, someone new to Alaska in a high administration position would be very unlikely to have signed up for that. Retirement has nothing to do with it.
It is not a surprise that Jones is moving on, and probably safe to assume that it really is for family reasons.
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