If you have not seen it yet, I would encourage you to check out Austin Jenkins’ recent interview of outgoing UW Pres. Mark Emmert. The hour-long interview is available from TVW as a special episode of Inside Olympia:
http://www.tvw.org/media/mediaplayer.cfm?evid=2010060065&TYPE=V&CFID=7895791&CFTOKEN=39591718&bhcp=1
The interview touches on some issues where, from my perspective, Pres. Emmert just does not “get it” including:
1) Misrepresentation of the recent discussions about faculty salary policy.
2) Ethical problems associated with upper level UW adminstrators serving on corporate boards.
3) The negative public relations and government relations impact of asking for public dollars for stadium renovations.
However, the overall impression is that Pres. Emmert comes off very well making the case for the UW as a crucial asset for the State of Washington. This leads to the ultimate puzzle: How could someone who can apparently makes this case so well produce such major setbacks in public and legislative support for the UW in recent years? Does this disconnect between apparent ability and actual results mean that the university should be looking for someone very different to serve as its next president?
— Luke Sitt