Tag: Gary White

Marshall Names Gilbert New President

The Marshall University Board of Governors today named Mississippi State University Provost Jerome A. “Jerry” Gilbert the 37th president of Marshall University. Gilbert will assume the presidency in January.

Earlier this month, the Presidential Search Committee announced Gilbert as one of three finalists for the position following a national search. All three candidates participated in open forums last week with students, faculty, staff and members of the community, and the decision to hire Gilbert was made yesterday by the Board of Governors in executive session.

Gilbert’s appointment and contract will require final approval from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.

A Mississippi native with a background in biomedical engineering, Gilbert has served since 2010 as provost and executive vice president of Mississippi State. Prior to that, he was the university’s associate provost and associate vice president for academic affairs for six years. He has held various administrative and faculty positions at Mississippi State, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.

He has a bachelor’s degree in biological engineering from Mississippi State and a doctorate in biomedical engineering from Duke University. An event is being planned to introduce Gilbert to the community.  

Marshall Selects Next President, Continues with Hiring Process

Marshall University’s Board of Governors has selected the university’s next president.

The board approved the new president after meeting in executive session Monday. Three finalists visited the Huntington campus last week.

Marshall Board of Governors Chairman Michael G. Sellards said the name won’t be revealed till the candidate is approved and officially hired. 

“Of course it has to be approved by the higher education policy commission,” Sellards said. “We will notify the successful candidate and then there are contractual issues that have to be discussed. One those issues are settled and the HEPC issue is resolved we would have a full public announcement and introduce the candidate to the public.”

 The candidates were Mississippi State University provost and executive vice president Jerome Gilbert; Oregon Institute of Technology President Christopher Maples; and University of Southern Mississippi marine science professor Denis Wiesenburg.

Gary White has served as Marshall’s interim president since last December following the death of President Stephen Kopp. The board hopes to announce the name within the next week.

Marshall Names Three Finalists for President

  Marshall University’s Presidential Search Committee has identified three finalists following a national search.

The university announced Wednesday that the three finalists are Mississippi State University Provost and Executive Vice President Jerome Gilbert, Oregon Institute of Technology President Christopher Maples and University of Southern Mississippi Professor and former Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Denis Wiesenburg.

Each finalist will visit Marshall University next week.

After the visits are complete and feedback from the campus community has been reviewed, the search committee will present its recommendations to the Board of Governors for the final selection.

Gary White will continue serving as interim president until a new president is named. White was appointed on Dec. 29, 2014, following the death of President Stephen Kopp. The 63-year-old Kopp died on Dec. 17, 2014.

Marshall University to Raise Tuition

Marshall University’s Board of Governors was presented with a $116 million balanced budget Wednesday that included a tuition increase.

A tuition increase isn’t uncommon in the state’s higher education system today. Many of the states four year institutions are looking to tuition increases, at least in part, to make up for state budget cuts. Marshall University’s Board of Governors approved an increase of between 3 to 4% for students Wednesday. The increase is less than the 5% threshold that requires the approval from the Higher Education Policy Commission.

Beginning in the fall, tuition and fees for full-time resident undergraduate students will increase $144 per semester. Undergraduate students who live in the metro counties of Kentucky and Ohio will pay $226 more, while non-resident undergraduate students will pay $288 more. Tuition for most resident graduate students will go up $101 per semester, with metro graduate students paying $177 more and non-resident graduate students paying $250 more.

Marshall Interim President Gary White said they had to come up with new ideas.

“We started a zero-based budget process and that implies that you look at everything you do and you quantify not only the important functions, but what those important functions cost, you don’t look at the revenue side, you simply look at the expense side and once those are identified, then you have a target,” White said.

It’s the third year that not just Marshall, but all higher education institutions in the state have faced budget cuts from the state Legislature. How did Marshall deal with that cut and still find a way to get the budget balanced? And find money for employee raises? By using new ideas like White said. Among those was changing the student tuition structure, no longer are there individual lab and course fees. Students pay college fees along with their tuition and the extra money needed for labs comes from that group.

But White said they came up with other ideas like the implementation of a faculty group to examine the budget. The Marshall 20/20 group was created in the fall of 2013 by former President Stephen J. Kopp and has played a large role in identifying areas that can be cut. The group of employees and faculty is compromised from different University departments that are always studying the budget. 

Marshall's Search for New President Continues

Marshall University’s presidential search committee will continue looking for candidates following an initial round of interviews.

Marshall Board of Governors chairman Michael G. Sellards says the committee interviewed six candidates off campus. While the candidates are qualified, Sellards says the committee decided it’s not yet prepared to invite them for on-campus interviews.

Instead, Sellards said Monday in a news release that the committee will continue searching to identify any other candidates who might not have been in the original pool.

Gary White will continue serving as interim president until a new president is named.

White was appointed on Dec. 29, 2014, following the death of President Stephen Kopp. The 63-year-old Kopp died on Dec. 17, 2014.

Marshall Interim President to Keep Things Moving in Right Direction

The Marshall University Board of Governors announced last week that Gary White will take over as interim president in the wake of the death of President Stephen J. Kopp.

White takes over while a search for a permanent replacement takes place. Former President Stephen J. Kopp passed away on December 17th. White is a native of Logan and recently served on Marshall’s board of governors in 2010. White also recently served on the Higher Education Policy Commission. He said his plan for the university while they look for a permanent replacement is to stay the course.

“We certainly want to protect the legacy of Dr. Kopp left. In his 9 and half years here on campus any of us can point to any number of things that he accomplished, so we certainly want to make sure that we continue protect his legacy,” White said.

White has worked much of his career as a businessman in the coal mining industry. 

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