The president of the University of North Texas resigned suddenly on Wednesday, prompting speculation that she was pressured to leave.
Gretchen M. Bataille, who was selected as the university's first female president in 2006, did not give a reason for her resignation, which is effective February 28.
The University of North Texas system's Board of Regents is expected to accept her decision at its quarterly meeting either Thursday or Friday, according to a written statement from the university.
The board will also begin the process of naming an interim president and searching for a successor.
Dakota Carter, a senior who serves as president of the university's Student Government Association, said a group of students planned to attend the meeting to speak on her behalf.
"The student body feels a sense of loss. Everyone is very upset," he said in an interview on Wednesday evening. "She has been nothing but a great president, and this came out of the blue."
Ms. Bataille's statement, which was posted on the university's Web site, gave no hint at the reasons for the unexpected departure.
"When I accepted the UNT presidency, I made the commitment to serve as a transformational leader. I saw a great opportunity to forge a clear direction for the university's future and to take it to new heights," she wrote.
"As a university community, we have made significant progress in many areas, including academics, arts, research, athletics, and image and reputation. A better infrastructure is in place to achieve our strategic goals and to embrace new opportunities. Pride in our university is at an all-time high, and we have achieved unprecedented levels of state and national recognition."
Karen Weiller, chair of the Faculty Senate and an associate professor of kinesiology, said that the president was popular with the faculty and that she did not know why Ms. Bataille was leaving.
The university system's chancellor, Lee F. Jackson, completed a job evaluation for the president in May that praised her for increasing the university's visibility and diversity and working well with faculty members and students. It expressed concern, however, over the amount of research support coming from the federal government, student retention, and fund raising.
The evaluation noted that the university, which is competing with other public universities to become a top-tier research institution, was still in the lower half of Texas universities in terms of federal research support per full-time faculty member. It also noted that the university will face "unprecedented challenges" with a worsening state economy and increasing enrollment.
Before assuming the presidency of the university, in Denton, Tex., Ms. Bataille was senior vice president for academic affairs for the University of North Carolina system.
Comments
1. cobalt - February 11, 2010 at 07:36 am
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2. jeff1 - February 11, 2010 at 08:36 am
Interesting. It is nice, for a change, to see a story on a president leaving for reasons other than incompetence or political issues. The president does owe the community a bit more explanation if that has not been done . . . private life or no, she should provide that.
3. reritschel - February 11, 2010 at 09:09 am
An explanation? You've got to be kidding. As part of her separation package there will very likely be an agreement to simply state: [pick one]she decided to explore new opportunities; spend more time with grandchildren; devote more time to research or teaching; etc. The bottom line is the honchos on the Board of Trustees didnt care for the way she was running the university. Anytime you align yourself as an 'advocate for students' you're in trouble. They come and go; boards are there to stay.
4. tulsadean - February 11, 2010 at 09:26 am
This doesn't make sense unless the chancellor and a few key board members just didn't like her, for whatever reason. Leaving by the end of this month after less than four years over fundraising, student retention, and too few federal research dollars? Doesn't compute. The students and faculty SHOULD be outraged...and concerned.
5. tridaddy - February 11, 2010 at 09:27 am
As an individual who has been engaged in research in some form or fashion for 3 decades, I don't find it hard to believe that a board would pressure a president to leave b/c the university did not meet their abitrarily set goal for federal research dollars. With that said, I am dismayed that universities have come to the point that success is measured by some of these goals (not unlike a goal that we're going to have a national championship football team, etc.) As a chief administrator for research efforts on a university campus, it is my opinion that getting the dollars for the research should not be a means to an end rather that conducting research and discovery should be an end in and of itself. Why not set the goal for knowing the most about X or Y and let that drive your success rather than setting a goal of being in the top 50 for obtaining federal grant dollars. The former goal seeks information and knowledge, the latter chases the almighty dollar. I'm not naive enough to think a university, or college, or department can survive without funding, but shouldn't the focus be on something other than money? We wonder why our students state that their goal for attending college is to get a good job making "lots" of money. Maybe they say that b/c that is what we model for them at the university.
6. texasmusic - February 11, 2010 at 09:39 am
How can you be so sure it's not political? Have you forgotten that Rick Perry is still the governor of Texas and he takes a special joy in micromanaging who is running his state's universities? Granted UNT is not one of his two favorites, but he just can't seem to keep his nose out of upper management in state higher education. Now that I think aboutit , I could probably make a case for his being behind Mike Leach's firing - dating back to a football game in his early governorship, around 2001 or 2002 and a goalpost incident. Now I'm joking of course.
But in all seriousness, without knowing the true reason, I would absolutely not throw politics, including right up to the Governor's mansion, out the window. She's been a good leader, she's been very visible to the masses, she's worked very hard for UNT, and I have to wonder what this is really about.
7. willynilly - February 11, 2010 at 11:10 am
This sudden and unexpected development at UNT will not pass the smell test. There is something in the middle of this that is emitting a very offensive odor. Someone needs to dig deeply inside the Board room and remove the rotten item that is causing the stench - which I doubt strongly is Ms. Bataille.
8. davi2665 - February 11, 2010 at 01:07 pm
The issue of not raising enough federal research dollars is a red herring. It takes years of infrastructure building and internal funding of pilot work, not to mention bringing on board the right faculty who are able to compete for federal grants. Smaller research universities will find it VERY difficult to make progress against the well honed top tier research machines that populate the study sections, dominate the funding networks, have connections through the program officers, and buy the big name research super stars. For a few spare hundred million dollars of investment, even a smaller university can move up in the research dollars competition arena. Unfortunately, enhancing federal research dollars is not a "strategic plan", it is just a means to achieving excellent scholarship, as are many other approaches. If the board gave this president only 4 years to sweep them into the upper echelons of research, then that board is either smoking something potent, or is even more dense and out of touch than the usual board.
The issue of fund raising, while often attended to by the president of a university, is mainly a reflection of the connections and the influence of the board. Do they think a president brought in 4 years ago should be able to garner the connections that the board should have been putting together over their entire professional life time? What does the board think they are there for- a fashion show and a coffee hour? They are there TO RAISE FUNDS. THAT is there job.
So something stinks about this abrupt departure. It sounds like the usual political chicanery and manipulations, with one faction of control jockeys trying to outgun and outmanuever other factions. Unfortunately, university boards have very little accountability, and often turn into a good ole boys club that engages in gamesmanship with other boards. It is a subset of "my endowment is bigger than your endowment." Regretable, very good leaders, especially those who actually do positive things for the students and faculty, are often the scapegoats, left at the wayside as road kill while the board blithely sputters on.
9. sstrada - February 11, 2010 at 04:38 pm
The goal of "becoming a top-tier research institution" frequently leads to unrealistic expectations.
10. 11896785 - February 12, 2010 at 12:18 am
I'm confused why so many institutions try to be something they are not rather than find their niche. It is unlikely that UNT will be a top tier research institution in Texas or beyond. They want a leader to achieve the impossible.
11. latino2 - February 12, 2010 at 02:26 pm
Statiscally, how many women as Presidents have resigned in the past three years? In Texas? Reasons?