Weather disrupts schedule for Southeast president hopeful

On-campus interviews for a Southeast Missouri State University presidential candidate were postponed Monday because of inclement weather and are rescheduled to Wednesday.

Margaret E. Madden will meet with the presidential search committee, administrative council and other university officials this week. She was to begin the interviews Monday, but the university closed Monday and Tuesday when several inches of snow fell on the area.

Madden was scheduled to have an open forum for faculty at 1:30 p.m. today, and a forum for staff, students and the public at 4 p.m. today at Dempster 105 in Glenn Auditorium. But the university announced Monday night interviews will be rescheduled to Wednesday. Classes at Southeast also were called off today.

The university said revised itineraries for Madden and candidate Paul D. Plotkowski will be posted by 10 a.m. today. Plotkowski was scheduled to be on campus Wednesday and Thursday.

Madden has served as provost and vice president of academic affairs for the State University of New York at Potsdam since 2002. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1975, then earned a master's degree and doctorate in psychology from the University of Massachusetts in 1979 and 1982.

Plotkowski is a founding dean and professor at Padnos College of Engineering and Computing at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1981 at Oakland University, and in 1984, he earned a doctorate in systems engineering.

The remaining candidates, Carlos Vargas-Aburto and Benjamin Ola. Akande, will begin their campus visits next week.

Vargas-Aburto will be at Southeast on Feb. 23 and 24. He is acting president of Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and earned a doctorate in physics and aerospace science at the University of Michigan.

Before becoming acting president in July, he served as provost and vice president for academic and student affairs since July 2011.

Ola. Akande is dean of George Herbert Walker School of Business Technology at Webster University in St. Louis and chief of the Webster University Office of Corporate Partnerships.

Ola. Akande earned a doctorate in economics at the University of Oklahoma in 1995. He also has a master of arts degree in economics and a master's degree in public administration. He will be on campus Feb. 25 and 26.

There will be a forum for staff, students and the public at Dempster 105 in Glenn Auditorium at 4 p.m. during the first day of each candidate's visit.

Forty-six candidates applied for the university's top leadership position after Southeast president Kenneth Dobbins announced his retirement plans Sept. 8. His last day will be June 30.

After reviewing questionnaires and curriculum vitae, the Presidential Search and Screening Committee at the university selected 10 candidates to interview in St. Louis, then invited four to campus interviews.

University officials said they hope to announce Dobbins' successor by the middle of March, if not sooner.

The university asks those who participate in the on-campus interviews to provide feedback to the board of regents via an electronic survey that will be made available on Southeast's website.

All feedback must be received by noon Feb. 27. The board will review the feedback before making a final determination.

More information on the candidates, as well as their full interview itineraries, is available at semo.edu/presidentialsearch.

klamb@semissourian.com

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