ECU trustees select finalists for chancellor; appointment expected by next semester
East Carolina University is close to getting a new chancellor, more than a year after the abrupt resignation of the former interim chancellor Dan Gerlach. ECU’s chancellor search also was delayed due to COVID-19.
The ECU Board of Trustees met Friday to determine a final slate of candidates that will be presented to UNC System President Peter Hans for selection.
“This concludes the work of the chancellor search at the campus level,” Board Chair Vern Davenport said.
Hans will review the candidates and can nominate one to the UNC System Board of Governors, who will then vote on the selection. Hans or the board also cound reject the candidates and ask ECU to continue its search.
“It’s my opinion... that we’re still on track to have a new chancellor of East Carolina University named by January,” Davenport said.
The chancellor search process is closed to the public. Davenport reminded ECU trustees and search committee members to keep candidate and applicant information confidential.
The position has been open since former ECU Chancellor Cecil Staton was unexpectedly forced to resign in March 2019. Dan Gerlach replaced Staton and held the position for about six months before resigning in October 2019.
The search for new candidates officially began in November 2019 when the chancellor search committee was announced. That search was halted by the coronavirus pandemic in March and resumed in September.
Ron Mitchelson has been serving as interim chancellor since Gerlach resigned during an investigation after he was seen drinking at bars with ECU students. Mitchelson has led the university through the coronavirus pandemic on campus, financial challenges in the athletic department and a controversy over ECU trustees meddling in student government elections.
Mitchelson arrived at ECU in 1999 and has held several faculty and administrative positions. He was the provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs since 2015, where he oversaw ECU’s academic programming, enrollment, research and equity and diversity.
His 20 years at ECU have been ”by far, the most rewarding years of my life,” Mitchelson said when he was named interim. At the time, Mitchelson said as interim chancellor he will continue the university’s mission of “student success, public service and regional transformation.”
“While we face some significant challenges, I am so excited about our recent successes and our expanding capacity to assist our students and the region,” Mitchelson said.
Those challenges only grew when COVID-19 disrupted campus life and university operations last spring.
This fall, ECU re-opened its campus in Greenville with in-person classes and students living in residence halls. Then it quickly shifted to online learning as COVID-19 cases spread among students and employees.
The university plans to bring students back to campus this spring semester with a new chancellor at the helm.
The next meeting of the UNC System Board of Governors, which ultimately approves the new chancellor, is Nov. 18-19.
