Nook would bring 'multiplicity' of experience to UNI

The third finalist for president of the University of Northern Iowa spoke Thursday about why, despite the highly crowded landscape of higher education nationally, he is bullish on the long-term outlook for regional public comprehensive universities such as UNI.

“The future does look bright, as long as we remember we’re not on the continuum between the research one (universities) and the liberal arts (colleges),” Mark Nook, chancellor of Montana State University Billings, told a group of about 200 people in Cedar Falls.

“We’re in a different spot,” he said. “And I always say its above it’s never below, it’s always above. There’s some overlap with both, but we serve the state, we serve the students and give them opportunities they can’t have in other places.”

Nook's open forum Thursday was the last of the three scheduled this week for finalists seeking to be UNI's 11th president. The others are Neil Theobald, who spent four years as president of Temple University before resigning in July, and UNI Interim President Jim Wohlpart, the first internal finalist at an Iowa public university in more than a decade.

Coverage of UNI finalists:

• Third UNI finalist led universities in Montana, Wisconsin
• Panthers' provost a finalist for UNI's presidential post
• Wohlpart calls on UNI to tell its own story
• Ex-Temple president is first finalist for UNI's top job
• Theobald calls UNI's student body 'just the right size'

Nook said it sometimes may seem that there isn't any room left in a state for schools such as UNI between all the the public University of Iowas and private Grinnell Colleges out there.

What allows a comprehensive university like UNI to "occupy a different space instead of squeezed middle," he said, is that they are the only schools focused on "educating Iowans for Iowa.”

“There is no other group (in higher education) that will bring in the same percentage of Iowa students and return those students to their state,” he said. “We create the next group of leaders of Iowans.”

Nook said that his optimism for UNI is based on his decades of experience in public comprehensive universities in three states — for nearly two decades at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, seven years in the University of Wisconsin system and the past two years in Montana.

In each of those states, Nook said, the companies and firms that hire his graduates have told him they are looking specifically for the skills provided by regional comprehensive schools such as 12,000-student UNI, 4,400-student MSUB and 9,000-student UW Stevens Point.

“What they really need is somebody that can communicate effectively to clients, communicate effectively to colleagues, they need people who can work together in teams, people that have critical thinking skills, that really know how to solve problems, that they’ve never seen before and that aren’t in their area of education,” he said. “And every study we do about liberal education tells us those are the skills that come out of your humanities courses and your social science courses.”

Nook also said he understand the budget pressures facing such schools.

When asked how he hypothetically would cut 5 percent from the university budget if required, Nook instead described the real-life process he went through when he arrived at Montana and had to cut 10 percent from the university budget.

Nook said campus leaders quickly agreed upon four principles for discussing the cuts:

• First limit the impact on students;
• Engage all shared governance units in that discussion;
• To be open and transparent in all communications;
• Don’t make opportunistic cuts or across-the-board cuts, because they violate the first principle.

Nook also praised UNI's strategic plan, which was approved by the Iowa Board of Regents earlier this year, for being so centered on student success.

John Johnson, a professor emeritus of history at UNI, described Nook's presentation as "creative" and said the third finalist's biggest strength is his "multiplicity of administrative experiences at different institutions, but still at institutions like ours."

Carolyn Hildebrandt, a UNI professor of psychology, said she has been impressed with the finalist phase of the search process, but had not yet made up her mind about which candidate she preferred.

"I think each of them has unique strengths," said Hildebrandt, who attended the open forums by Nook and Wohlpart. "I think both of them really understand the university and its mission and where it could go."

All three finalists are seeking to succeed former UNI President Bill Ruud, who left in July to become president of a private college in Ohio.

The UNI Presidential Search and Screen Committee is collecting community feedback this week's campus visits and and is scheduled to give a report the the regents Monday in Cedar Falls.

The regents are expected to select a new president during next week's meeting.

Reach Jeff Charis-Carlson at jcharisc@press-citizen.com or 319-887-5435. Follow him at @JeffCharis.

What's next

The Iowa Board of Regents are considering three finalists to become the next UNI president. Mark Nook, chancellor of Montana State University Billings, spoke Thursday. The other finalists — UNI Provost and interim President Jim Wohlpart and former Temple University President Neil Theobald — held open forums on campus earlier in the week.

The regents are scheduled to select a new president during their meeting next week in Cedar Falls.