Based on the latest update on the presidential search, it appears that the process is proceeding in a quiet mode, with applicants being approached and applications being received.
I know the search committee is not going to share anything publicly in terms of the overall quality of candidates, but I'd love to know if they are seeing interest from the kinds of individuals who can help turn this ship around.
For better or worse the Pres. candidates will have two new data points by end of August to consider;- fall 2025 enrollment numbers and the cost of the $55 bond issue cost to VU.
For better or worse the Pres. candidates will have two new data points by end of August to consider;- fall 2025 enrollment numbers and the cost of the $55 bond issue cost to VU.
I want someone who is up for the challenge. No surprises, total transparency.
I just want a president who views their job as a partnership and who treats a university like an ecosystem. It sounds like this president was unwilling to partner with anyone on anything, which in turn fosters a community of mistrust. And as a consequence of his “my way or the highway” approach, the president has had to own his failures because he didn’t let anyone help him.
I want a president with accomplishments and a list of people sharing those successes.
Building on Kreitzer's point, an effective president will need to attract, retain, and inspire highly effective people around them. He or she cannot do everything and building a great leadership team will be critical.
Any work on the new president? Interview, make a decision, and move on from Padilla. The slow motion process on this is ridiculas
Opening convocation is today at 4. any hope the Padilla would fade are gone. He is the featured speaker, with Eric Johnson taking an active role as well. Not really a surprise. He isn't hiding. did a reading at the opening chapel service as well.
Oh! and Paul Oren is getting a promotion to Senior Lecturer in Communication and Visual Arts! Congrats!!!
Is there any word on the dean of business who was sacked who disagreed with Padilla?
I have never seen anything (outside of his lawyers) that contradicts the media reports that he (Nic Erhardt) was fired for physically assaulting someone on campus. His lawyers (see below) seem to claim that he was a whistleblower, but I have never heard anything that supports that.
https://poetsandquants.com/2025/02/24/why-did-valparaiso-fire-its-business-school-dean/
That “whistleblower” defense never made much sense to me because a) I never heard tell of a whistle being blown, and b) the lawyer coupled it with a claim about Padilla wanting to cut the budget by firing an expensive dean.
Then Padilla hired a new dean right away, and I have to imagine the salary was comparable… so how much could they have saved? We’ll have to wait for next year’s 990s to see if that budget defense bears out, but the last dean of business was one of the two highest-paid academics on the books. (Nursing dean was the other.)
Kreitzer - I see the point in your first paragraph, but your second paragraph is wrong. They elevated the current Associate Dean of the College of Business to Interim Dean (Matt Luth). Not sure if someone was then elevated to interim Associate Dean or if the Associate Dean duties were temporarily distributed among multiple faculty - but no one was hired.
Still, Luth must have seen a pay bump to take the big job, even if only temporarily.
Now, if Padilla had closed the business school, the claim might hold more water.
Yes, but they did not hire anyone. The business school is doing what they did previously with one person less overall. Matt Luth's temporary increase plus any small increase(s) given to cover Associate Dean duties are far less than the overall costs (salary plus benefits) of the dismissed Dean.
I am not arguing that Erhardt's lawyers' arguments hold any water - they don't. Just clarifying what actually has happened with costs in the College of Business.
Hearing word that interviews for the president position will begin next week
These are likely first interviews that are done over Teams. The hope would be to narrow it down to about 3 seriously potential candidates that would each visit Valpo for far more extensive interviews.
