Lee Jackson speaks on new President

[Harry]

Cut and paste for audio link

mms://129.120.43.132/on-demand/kntu_web_media/newssports/latestnews/leejackson7-6-06.mp3

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http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/...t.2f479cb9.html

UNT names sole finalist for presidency

Dr. Gretchen M. Bataille slated to become university's 14th president

05:02 PM CDT on Thursday, July 6, 2006

By Matthew Zabel / Staff Writer

Dr. Gretchen M Bataille, the academic chief of the 16-campus University North Carolina system since 2000, is slated to become the University of North Texas’ 14th president.

Dr. Gretchen Bataille

UNT regents meeting today via teleconference unanimously named her the only finalist for the presidency, which Dr. Norval Pohl is vacating next month.

UNT Chancellor Lee Jackson said Bataille, pronounced, “Buh-TIE,” brings a broad range of knowledge and experience. She has served in academic administration positions at North Carolina, Washington State, California-Santa Barbara, Arizona State and California State Polytechnic-Pamona universities.

Also Online

Audio: UNT Chancellor Lee Jackson on finalist

(Courtesy William Gregg, KNTU.com)

“She has seen how some of the best universities in the United States set their academic agendas and has helped them move forward,” Jackson said after the meeting. “I believe she will help UNT fulfill our academic goals that we laid out in our own strategic plan.”

Bataille, 61, will become the first woman to be president UNT.

In UNT’s prepared announcement, Bataille said she is excited about the job at UNT’s student-centered campus.

“UNT has a long history of serving the North Texas region, and with the strength of its faculty and students, it’s well-positioned to be better recognized nationally and internationally,” she said in the announcement. “It will be my responsibility to ensure that the university achieves the level of prominence it deserves.”“

Pohl, 62, has been UNT’s president since 2000. His contract expires next month, and he announced last summer he would not seek its extension.

UNT began in September to search for his replacement.

By law, regents must wait at least 21 days before formally naming Bataille president.

A date for that vote has not yet been scheduled, but UNT spokeswoman Deborah Leliaert said some campus meetings with Bataille are being planned for this month.

John Robert “Bobby” Ray, chairman of the UNT Board of Regents, said in a prepared statement that Bataille is ready to lead UNT.

“She has the energy, experience, and enthusiasm to continue the progress we have made at UNT and to lead us to new levels of success,” Ray said.

In addition to serving as the chief academic officer for the 16 campuses of the University of North Carolina, Bataille has served the last year as interim chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts.

As interim chancellor of that school in Winston-Salem, N.C., Bataille was chief executive officer of an institution serving more than 1,100 junior-high to graduate students training for professional careers in the arts in five professional schools - dance, design and production (visual arts), drama, film and music. The School of the Arts was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation, according to UNT”s announcement.

As the University of North Carolina system’s senior vice president for academic affairs, Bataille led the academic planning for all of the UNC system campuses with a total enrollment of about 196,000 students. Among those campuses are two medical schools and schools of dentistry, pharmacy, public health and veterinary medicine.

As the system’s highest ranking academic officer, she was oversaw strategic planning and budgeting, research, student affairs, international programs and advising the UNC president and board of governors on academic issues.

She is a tenured professor of English at North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Bataille earned her bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in English education from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. She earned a doctorate in English from Drake University and has completed management development programs at Harvard University and the University of California. Bataille is a widow and the mother of two grown children — Erin Hettinga Crail and Marc Hettinga, UNT’s announcement said.

MATTHEW ZABEL can be reached at 940-566-6884. His e-mail address is mzabel@dentonrc.com

[Hunter Green]

...but is she athletics-friendly?

[MeanGreenBuzz]

That was my first question as well and the answers in her never once mention athletics... only academics. I hope she has a Q and A session soon so we can go and ask her about her stance. She has worked at 3 schools where athletics are a priority so hopefully she carries that over.