Gallaudet's next president

ayala920

ayala920

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As a future student of Gallaudet (fall 2006), I'm especially interested in the selection process for the next president of the university. I'm curious to hear what you all think. The finalists:

Jane Fernandes has been Provost at Gallaudet University since 2000, and previously served as Vice President for the Clerc Center from 1995-2000. She received her bachelor’s degree in French and Comparative Literature from Trinity College in Connecticut, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in Comparative Literature.

Ronald Stern has served as Superintendent of the New Mexico School for the Deaf since 2000, and was previously Director of Instruction at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont for ten years. He has a B.A. in Sociology from Gallaudet, an M.A. in Special Education from California State University at Northridge. Ron expects to complete his Ed.D. at the University of New Mexico in December 2006.

Stephen Weiner is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Gallaudet University. His previous administrative roles at Gallaudet include Dean of the School of Undergraduate Studies (1995-2001), Executive Director, Student Development (1993-94) and Director of the Career Center (1990-1993). Both his B.A. and M.A. are from Gallaudet and he earned his Ed.D. in Counseling and Development from American University.

Some sites of interest:

Deaf DC
Gally's Presidential Search Update Page
Gally President Watch
 
Ok, I'll bite! Listed below is my reply in Deafattorneys.com forums. (Slightly edited.)
After reading some of the replies, here [gallypresswatch.com], I think viable candidates would be:

Ron Stern
Jane Fernandes
Glenn Anderson

However, I would like to see their resumes, examine their background, etc., once the official candidate pool is released by Gallaudet. All else being equal, I would like for Glenn to assume the reins as President of Gallaudet University.

Whoever becomes the President will face a formidable challenge at Gallaudet; The enrollment is declining, thanks to the ADA/Section 504 laws, opening doors for Deaf/HH people at thousands of universities across our nation. Plus, the traditional Deaf 'feeder' schools themselves are facing difficult times, as they, too, face declining student enrollments.

In around 10-15 years, Gallaudet has to 'reinvent' itself and cater to more 'nontraditional' deaf people, i.e., those in mainstreamed programs, know very little ASL, and have CI's. I assume this happened already; Gallaudet has admitted more students from mainstreamed programs, than ever before.

Otherwise, Gallaudet could suddenly find itself in a precarious position of having to subsidize the Deaf/HH student population with ever increasing numbers of hearing people enrolling there. This has already happened, with the advent of the 'HUG' (Hearing Undergraduate Program), although in small numbers.
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Yes, I know Dr. Glenn Anderson did not make the final round. I would have liked him to be a candidate in the final round!
 
Another reply of mine in the same forums:
I just visited Gally's PR site about the Presidential search and got a chance to examine some of the candidate's qualifications. It does appear that Jane is the best qualified of the three, but she's an 'outsider'. She didn't get her BA, MA or PhD's at Gallaudet, and only worked there since 1995.

I liked Ron Stern, until I found out he hasn't earned his EdD yet! However, he does have experience running an institution, albeit a small Deaf insitution. I would think his experience in running a Deaf school would translate well into running a decent-sized institution of higher learning. He is a Gallaudet alumni and would make us proud, though! I would say that Ron is the runner-up.

Stephen Weiner appears to be a good candidate and is a Gally alum. I really don't know that much about him, though. I wonder why he is merely an 'Associate' Professor at Gally, when he used to be a Dean? Isn't that like a demotion? One thing I don't like about him is that he's been at Gally for a long time. He was a student there for both BA & MA's. He worked there in various administrative capacities. I prefer to have a candidate that's been out of Gally's 'cocoon' and actually has butted and broken heads elsewhere!

At any rate, I would be happy with any of the three candidates, should one of them be selected as Gallaudet's next President. I wonder, who are the remaining 18 candidates? I'm surprised that Glenn Anderson didn't make the cut; I thought he would have made a fine candidate.
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Eyeth, I was hoping you'd reply! I figured you would have some thoughts on the subject.

Personally, I wish Gallaudet had provided more than a three or four sentence description of each of the remaining candidates. Sure, knowing their educational and employment history is important, but I'd like to know more about them as people. Hopefully Gallaudet will put their upcoming speeches on the website for viewing.

I agree with what you said about Stephen Weiner (I can't help but laugh at the name alone. I wonder what his sign name is....), as far as a lack of "outside" experience. That could be an advantage, as it could mean he knows more about the university's workings than the others, but also as a disadvantage, for obvious reasons.

Enrollment has been decreasing in recent years, which is sad to see. It actually increased this year, but who knows if that will be a continuing trend. I certainly hope so. Perhaps it's because Wyoming is failing- there isn't a single Gallaudet student currently enrolled who is from Wyoming. I wonder if they'll count me as a Wyoming resident for statistical purposes. *ponders*
 
This was interesting to me, probably moreso than it will be to other people:

Number of hearing undergraduates for fall semester, 2005:
Freshmen: 12
Sophomore: 7
Juniors: 11
Seniors: 5

Total: 35

Number of hearing undergraduates for spring semester, 2006:
Freshmen: 5
Sophomore: 6
Juniors: 7
Seniors: 6

Total: 24

I wonder what the reason was for the drastic change in only one semester.
 
I'm hoping it'll be Mr. Stern. He seems to be the best in all the qualifications I'm looking for:

1) Deaf background
2) Educational institution background
3) Well liked, well respected, and well known in both hearing and deaf communities. There may be people who dislike him, but the bottom line is, if you took a poll, he would be liked or neutral.
4) Has family that can be looked on as role models for the deaf and are also known in the hearing community. I don't care that they "used marijuana" or whatever.
5) Doesn't polarize the Gallaudet campus. Ms. Fernandes generates dislike against her -- I'd like to instill someone with the ability to unite the campus, not divide it.
6) Actively involved in his own education, as seen in his pending Ed. D.
7) Can hob-nob and fundraise with the best of them, especially in DC.
 
When back to 1989, Gallaudet tried to hire hearing president then many students were protest against them.
 
I hear about good thing abou deaf africa dude. He should be president of Gally.
 
In formal academics, to be a university president you generally need an academic PhD. I'm a little surprised Stern made it to the final round. If he really is the man for the job, kudos to him.

No matter who wins, I hope for the best!
 
Dennis said:
I'm hoping it'll be Mr. Stern. He seems to be the best in all the qualifications I'm looking for:

1) Deaf background
2) Educational institution background
3) Well liked, well respected, and well known in both hearing and deaf communities. There may be people who dislike him, but the bottom line is, if you took a poll, he would be liked or neutral.
4) Has family that can be looked on as role models for the deaf and are also known in the hearing community. I don't care that they "used marijuana" or whatever.
5) Doesn't polarize the Gallaudet campus. Ms. Fernandes generates dislike against her -- I'd like to instill someone with the ability to unite the campus, not divide it.
6) Actively involved in his own education, as seen in his pending Ed. D.
7) Can hob-nob and fundraise with the best of them, especially in DC.
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You forgot to add he's a Kappa Gamma knight. Take a look at the resumes of the folks at NMSD. You can smell Kappa Gamma in almost all of them. He'll turn Gallaudet into a Kappa Gamma fortress and that's something the new deaf society cant afford.

Richard
 
Is he really a "Kappa Gamma" knight, as you seem to have a problem with, or is he someone who a long time ago entered the fraternity and simply associates with as an alumnus?

I've looked at the NM School for the Deaf staff list. I guess I have a hard time understanding your comment about the KG stronghold as many of the staff members are female, and unless KG opened their doors to female pledges, I think your concerns are without merit.

Even I, after leaving my deaf fraternity only a few years ago, barely keep connected with my boys, and I'm still considered one of the most loyal and supportive alumnus. I haven't seen anything that points to Mr. Stern being a KG whacko like I've seen others in the deaf community who have gone to Gallaudet and only joined KG to have an excuse to party and make trouble, and then do things like pass on NAD college bowl answers to their ol' team with KG members.
 
My Humble Opinion:

None of them are qualified...

I can smell another Gally Protest again !!!
 
For those of you stating that you don't like candidates for personal reasons, what do you mean? I don't know much (anything) about the candidates, so I don't know what you mean by your negative comments.
 
My reasons is not 'personal'. It comes from a professional and from an interagency perspective.

I seen the dirty faces of Kappa Gamma, the dirty actions, the signs they distributed, the elections they upset, and many of their childish pranks their spooks commit on deaf people who represent the future of deaf society. All they do is disrupt the peaceful coesistance between deaf community and the deaf people who are bridges to the hearing world. Do we need this in Gallaudet?

Not to mention the sophomoric stuff they did to Tom Bertling, Stephen Hardy, Paulette Caswell, Frances Parsons, even myself, and many other people.

The only place that Kappa Gamma people belong is in St. Elizabeth's Hospital because one thing for sure is that theyre all members of the international league of deaf paranoids!

Richard
 
I don't know much about the 2 other candidates, but from a personal and former student level perspective...I would reckon Ron Stern could do the job as President of Gallaudet. He was middle school principal for a number of years at California School for the Deaf, Fremont, plus a few other hats around the school before moving onto becoming Supt. of NM School for the Deaf.
I've seen him in action of encouraging and boosting leadership potiential in students at school.
Just my 2 cents. :)
 
ayala920 said:
I wonder what the reason was for the drastic change in only one semester.
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From a purely statistical standpoint, it's pretty hard to draw a conclusion from such a small sample. (Sorry to sound so pedantic, it's all the grad school reading.)

Nesmuth said:
theyre all members of the international league of deaf paranoids!
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I'm up to my ankles in irony here.
 
Nesmuth said:
Not to mention the sophomoric stuff they did to Tom Bertling, Stephen Hardy, Paulette Caswell, Frances Parsons, even myself, and many other people.

The only place that Kappa Gamma people belong is in St. Elizabeth's Hospital because one thing for sure is that theyre all members of the international league of deaf paranoids!

Richard
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I can agree! I did not appreciate KG for its antics back then. When they wanted to interview me, they put me in a room blindfolded and made me stay seated for a long time...then they opened the blindfold and I was shocked to find their swords aimed at my eyeballs. I got PISSED OFF and refused to do anything further with STUPID KAPPA GAMMA!!!!! They are the sickos like Richard says! I agree!

They have free pass to St. Elizabeths! I can concur with that!!!

:pissed:
 
For me, I think that as long as the new president is Deaf and is very good with money and knows how to work with a wide range of people and is not so politically correct then that would be a good choice for G.U.
 
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