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Bonesville.net Archives: Sept. 13, 2003
Chancellor's stormy term reaches abrupt conclusion
From Bonesville.net Staff Reports
The volatile command of the Admiral of the
Pirate Fleet has come to a sudden end.
Dr. William V. Muse, whose relatively brief
tenure as chancellor of East Carolina University was marked by rapid growth
in student enrollment and capital infrastructure advances on campus, as well
as tension, controversy and turnover in the school's department of
athletics, is stepping down.
Muse, ECU's CEO since 2001, has resigned, effective Sept. 30. His
resignation was announced by University of North Carolina President Molly
Corbett Broad at a meeting of the UNC Board of Governors on Friday in Chapel
Hill.
In a letter to Broad, Muse said:
"I am proud of the many accomplishments that have been achieved during my
tenure, including significant enrollment growth, capital expansion, and the
launching of important new academic programs. However, after considerable
personal reflection and in light of significant health concerns that have
arisen over the past year, I have concluded that it would be in my best
interests to step down as chancellor and transition back to a faculty role."
Muse will be on vacation through Sept. 30 and then on research leave until
Dec. l before joining the faculty in the College of Business for the spring
semester.
According to various accounts, the unexpected decision by Muse to tender his
resignation came under pressure. Broad and the school's board of trustees
met Thursday night in what some have described as an emergency session
to consider the results of an audit which turned up management shortcomings
in several areas, including discrepancies in the handling of finances of a
major federal contract involving the National Library of Medicine.
Muse, who underwent heart surgery several months ago, formally gave notice
of stepping down on Friday, according to an ECU News Bureau statement, but
university officials made no formal mention of the audit's findings in connection
with the resignation.
Jim Talton, chair of the ECU Board of Trustees, praised Muse's work at the
university.
"The board appreciates the significant contributions and improvements
instituted at ECU during Bill Muse's tenure," Talton said. "We wish Bill and
Marlene the very best. We will miss his leadership."
Broad is expected to name an interim chancellor within the next
week. The ECU Board of Trustees, working closely with Broad will
soon form a search committee of trustees, faculty, students and alumni to
identify a permanent successor to Chancellor Muse.
Once the search is completed, the Board of Trustees will forward the names
of finalists to Broad for consideration. The new chancellor, upon
nomination by the president, must be elected by the UNC Board of Governors.
ECU's enrollment, which stood at 19,412, has grown to 21,797 this semester.
SAT scores of incoming freshmen are at a record high of 1050.
Millions of dollars in construction projects have been launched or completed
under Muse, including the Science and Technology Building, which opened last
month, the expansion of the Rivers Building and the construction of the West
End Dining Hall.
The university's research programs, especially in the health sciences, have
received international media coverage in the last year, and the
teacher-education programs have won awards at the state and national level.
At the same time, Muse approved or executed a series of decisions which have
resulted in one of the school's flagship departments enduring one of the
most turbulent periods in its history.
In the last year, ECU athletics took a major public relations hit over its
handling of the scheduling of a televised home football game on a Friday
night in conflict with the state high school playoffs.
Subsequent to that controversy, Steve Logan, the Pirate football program's
longest-serving and most successful coach since joining the Division I-A
football ranks, was dismissed at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Logan had publicly objected to the scheduling shift which resulted in
the Friday night game after he was notified of it in a press release issued
by then-athletic director Mike Hamrick.
Last month, Hamrick, who became a controversial figure among boosters and
was often at odds with Logan during his eight-year tenure as ECU's athletic
director, sought and obtained the A.D. position at Nevada-Las Vegas with
Muse's endorsement and encouragement.
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