UM curators likely to name interim leader

The UM System Board of Curators is expected to name an interim president to replace outgoing president Elson Floyd at the board’s meeting on the University of Missouri-Rolla campus this week.

Curators will enter a closed session on Friday afternoon to discuss candidates for the position. They hope to emerge from the session that evening with the name of an interim president, UM System spokesman Scott Charton said. The board will also announce when the interim president will assume the role.

With an interim president at the helm, Floyd will step down from his current position and act as a consultant, helping to ease the transition for the new leader, Charton said. Floyd, who announced in December that he accepted an offer to become president at the four-campus Washington State University, will leave the UM system at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, the board’s presidential search committee met Wednesday evening at a closed dinner meeting in St. James. The committee will reconvene this morning at UMR’s Havener Center to hear a report from search consultant Jerry Baker of Atlanta-based search firm Baker and Associates. Baker has been contacting potential candidates for the position on a confidential basis, Charton said.

This week’s curators meeting also marks the last time Floyd will meet with the board, whose agenda includes a resolution honoring the outgoing system president for his years of service.

Also on the agenda is a final decision on student tuition and fees for the 2007-2008 academic year. The board plans to vote on a 3.8 percent tuition increase, according to board documents. The change would increase the baseline tuition for a student enrolled in 15 credit hours per semester by about $260 per semester. Baseline tuition represents tuition before enrollment fees, scholarships and financial aid.