It is with heavy hearts that the campus community accepts Chancellor Patricia A. Sullivan’s plans to retire on July 31, 2008. Her tireless, caring endeavors have made the university a stronger, academically recognized, and more beautiful campus.
But now we are about to write a new chapter in UNCG history. The Chancellor Search Committee will be hard-pressed to find a leader who can fill the role Pat Sullivan played.
UNC President Erskine Bowles said to the search committee, “This is by far the most important job you will do for this institution, bar none. It will be important not only for UNCG, but for the Triad.”
In its 2007 edition of “The American College President,” the American Council on Education reported that the average sitting president has served 8.5 years, up from 6.3 years in 1986. In the same period, the average age of college presidents has increased from 52.3 to 59.9 years. The summary report is fascinating. What will these findings mean in our search for a new UNCG chancellor?