President Nellis approved as new TTU president
University of Idaho President M. Duane Nellis has been approved by the Texas Tech University Board of Regents as the new president of TTU. The announcement was made March 22, with an official introduction Monday by Chancellor Kent Hance. Nellis will start his position at TTU June 15.
“After an extensive search for qualified applicants, Dr. Nellis is the clear candidate to build upon Texas Tech University’s recent success,” Hance said in a press release. “I am proud to introduce him as president, and I look forward to an exciting new chapter for our university.”
A search committee was authorized in a March 5 Idaho State Board of Education meeting, chaired by Board of Regents member Emma Atchley. A list of search committee members will be announced mid-April.
Marilyn Whitney, ISBOE chief communications officer, said the board plans to move the process along as quickly as possible in an organized and thoughtful way, but presidential search processes typically take anywhere between six and nine months.
Whitney said Nellis’ leave date is unknown at this point, but they expect to have a date later this week. The ISBOE will meet Wednesday in Moscow to discuss an interim president to begin serving at the conclusion of Nellis’ term.
GradFest continues
GradFest will continue from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today in the University of Idaho Student Union Building ballroom.
Expectant graduates can order their cap, gown and tassels for a reduced rate.
Bachelor’s packages are $53, Master’s are $79.50 and the Doctoral rentals are $95.40. Cap, gown and tassels are also available a la carte.
Class rings, commencement announcements, frames, commencement photos and insurance programs for graduates are also available during GradFest.
Questions should be directed to the Office of Alumni Relations at 208-885-6154.
Task force meets to discuss campus culture, drinking statistics, changes
The new University of Idaho alcohol task force is working to make students safer in a campus culture where ASUI Vice President Nick Tunison said roughly 20 percent of students are high risk drinkers.
Tunison said the task force has met twice so far to discuss campus culture, drinking statistics and identify what changes can be made.
“So far it’s been really basic,” Tunison said. “We’ve gone over by saying what the culture is on campus using statistics and surveys taken over the last five or six years. We also graphed every outreach thing that the community and the campus does in order to find out what’s working or what isn’t working.”
Tunison said they have done a lot of background work in order to identify the problems, but they haven’t yet discussed in much detail what they can do to make changes. He mentioned that while on-campus drinking may be high risk, it seems to be safer than off-campus drinking. He said the task force has identified one change to address this specifically.
“One of the first things we discussed that might be a proposal change is that right now the current student code of conduct doesn’t apply to actions off-campus,” Tunison said. “If someone were to get an MIP or open container off-campus the Dean of Students wouldn’t be notified and there wouldn’t really be anything the university could do about that. At just about any other university any infraction with the law if it violated the student code of conduct whether it happened on-campus or off it wouldn’t matter, the Dean of Students would be notified.”
Tunison said it is important to be realistic about the time it will take for campus culture to change.
“We know it is not a quick fix,” Tunison said. “We know that if we make changes we may not see the full effects for another 10 to 20 years.”
Alcohol Task Force Members:
Steve Meier, Diane Armpriest, Patricia Hartzell, Bruce Pitman, Shannon Haselhuhn, Sharon Fritz, Barrie Steele, Matt Kurz, Dee Dee Kanikkeberg, Dan Button, Kim Blewett, Craig Chatriand, Dave Lehmitz, Bill Thompson, Debi Dockins, Wynn Mosman, Connor Kennelly, Brooklynn Watts, Chris Chesnut, Hannah Davis, Nick Tunison, Sadie Grossbaum, Sydney Hege and Amanda Henricks
Greek Life Task Force Members:
Bruce Pitman, Frances Ellsworth, Carl Berry, Lou Aldecoa, Marilyn Fordham, Ray Stark, Barbara Bull, Laird Stone and Ed Whitehead