Herman: 'It's good to have the ambiguity resolved'
Chancellor Richard Herman, who announced his resignation last week, will spend his last day in office Monday. He sat down with The News-Gazette's Julie Wurth on Friday to talk about his decision to resign, his accomplishments and regrets over the past decade as provost and chancellor, the upheaval caused by the "Category I" admissions scandal, and the school's future. Excerpts follow. For the complete version, please click here.
The question of your future has been hanging over campus for weeks. How do you feel now that this decision is behind you?
It's good to have the ambiguity resolved, for the campus especially. ... I think this clears the way for the institution to move forward beyond the admissions issue.
This is a place that Susan and I have come to love. We have become Midwesterners, especially when it comes to this community and the university. There is a sadness in that. But I do think there is a certain finality that comes about with this decision.
It was difficult, partly because of what I've said about the place and knowing what's been accomplished in the past decade and what is yet to be accomplished in these extraordinarily difficult times for higher education.
You said a month ago you had considered resigning but decided to stay and "fight doggedly for the chance to continue my work." What changed?
The question really is, can the institution move beyond the issue with either me or President (B. Joseph) White in place? At the end of the day we both decided that wasn't possible.
Did you make your decision before President White announced he would resign?
I don't want to speak for him, but we both knew that time was limited. And it's just a question of conducting the next phase in a way that's best for the institution. Obviously we both had been thinking about the issue for a period of time.
Did you get feedback from trustees or interim President-designate Stan Ikenberry about this?
I had some discussions with President Ikenberry and some discussions with the chair of the board, Chris Kennedy, about what the future might look like.
As you negotiated the terms of your resignation and subsequent employment, what was most important to you?
Fundamentally, how to play a continuing role in the university and how my abilities might best be used to further the mission of the institution.
Did you find that your effectiveness as chancellor diminished in recent weeks?
The answer is to some extent yes. ... Once it's known you're going to go, people will delay coming to you. It's a natural behavior.
What do you most regret about leaving? Do feel you're leaving behind any unfinished business?
There's a certain amount of unfinished business, but there's a lot of progress. One of my favorite programs is Illinois Promise (which helps low-income students graduate debt-free). That needs to be put on a firm financial footing and hopefully extend the aid further. My real worry is that the middle class is going to be priced out of attending universities like ours.
The transfer program needs to operate at a much more robust level. I'm very pleased we've doubled the number of students we get here as transfers from community colleges.
I hope the Faculty Excellence Program continues to grow. ... This is what I think is threatened over the long term, our ability to support faculty and the great work that they do.
You said you've enjoyed every "nanosecond" as chancellor. What about the Chief controversy?
It's an averaging process (laughter). Look, you don't sit in these jobs without knowing there will be difficult issues to face and deal with. That's part of the territory. Ultimately it's how you deal with them, and the respect for differing opinions, that is important. That was, and remains, a difficult chapter in the history of this university. Someday there'll be another history written.
What was the most difficult moment for you during the "summer of clout," as you called it?
It was sort of a continuing (thing). Reading the lurid press. ... I decided early on that I wasn't going to engage in everything that was said but to conduct myself in a decorous way, not point fingers, and reserve my testimony for the commission. ... And having the context understood. Then, finally, the speech I gave before the senate the first time, which was an honest, heartfelt speech. Getting to that point, writing that, was hard.
Do you have any parting message for the community about Category I?
I do think that the ... campuses have all created an admissions system that will provide a firewall, so that fundamentally all inquiries are going to be referred to the admissions office in one way or another.
There is going to be a certain amount of vigilance required. That's sort of built into the next steps. We're going to be providing accountability each year. And any inquiries are going to be logged so they're public record. That'll help us.
Do you have advice for your successor if he or she is presented with the same kinds of pressure?
The real answer is to simply do what's in the best interest of the institution. Maybe the answer is to think about how every single decision affects the university. ...
What are you most proud of in the way you've conducted yourself through this investigation?
I was open, candid, and acknowledged my own shortcomings. I have never pointed fingers in anything I've said publicly.
What will you miss most about the job?
That's hard. The interaction with a broad breadth of wonderful faculty, staff and students. ... The ability to steer the ship, develop new directions. ...When you go out and talk to people about the university, the kind of reception you get is mind-bogglingly positive.
What are your plans for your sabbatical next year?
Working with Chicago Public Schools and continuing to work nationally (on an initiative to encourage more teachers in science, technology, engineering and math) with the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities. We got over 120 universities to sign on to really do something here. ... It's obviously a major problem facing the nation.
What will you say to faculty at the annual meeting Monday?
In some respects it's a farewell. ...
I have often spoken of what a privilege and honor it has been to serve this institution.
I have had the great good fortune of having as a partner in this endeavor my wife, Susan. I also have had the pleasure of working with wonderful people here on campus and the most supportive staff any administrator could ask for.
HIGHLIGHTS OF HERMAN'S TENURE
— Aug. 13, 1998: Herman, 56, is announced as the next provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the Urbana-Champaign campus. He was chosen from some 80 candidates. He had been dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences at Maryland. He succeeds Larry Faulkner, who in April 1998 became president of the University of Texas at Austin.
— January 2002: Chancellor Nancy Cantor and Herman propose a plan to cut costs at the university.
— March 13, 2002: Graduate employees "occupy" the Swanlund administration building, extracting a promise from Herman and other UI administrators to decide which UI grad students would qualify for a bargaining unit and contract.
— March 21, 2002: Herman is one of three finalists for the presidency of Texas A&M.
— April 26, 2002: Herman takes himself out of the running for the Texas A&M job.
— May 11, 2002: Committee appointed in 2000 by then-Chancellor Michael Aiken and Herman recommends measures to improve diversity, among them retiring Chief Illiniwek and creation of cultural "houses" on campus.
— Dec. 20, 2002: Herman interviews for the presidency at the University of Iowa.
— January 2003: David Skorton, a popular administrator at Iowa, is chosen to be president there.
— Early October 2003: Herman interviews for the presidency at the University of Florida. Also interviewing is UI-Chicago Chancellor Sylvia Manning. The Florida school picks James Machen, president of the University of Utah, for the job.
— March 20, 2004: UI President James Stukel announces Herman will be interim chancellor after Nancy Cantor announces her resignation to take job at Syracuse.
— May 14, 2004: UI trustees and administrators, including Herman, meet in small groups with Emil Jones, then president of the Illinois Senate, about retiring Chief Illiniwek.
— July 15, 2004: UI, Graduate Employees Organization reach agreement on first labor contract.
— Nov. 2, 2004: B. Joseph White announced as president of the UI to succeed Stukel.
— December 2004: Herman creates Illinois Promise, a program to pay for college for low-income students.
— April 19, 2005: Herman is named chancellor of the Urbana-Champaign campus.
— June 2005: Chancellor's Summer Academy begins operation to offer training to teachers with UI education faculty.
— August 2005: NCAA recommends prohibiting schools using what it deemed "hostile or abusive" American Indian imagery from hosting national championship tournaments, and from using such imagery, nicknames or mascots at NCAA postseason events.
— December 2005: Herman recommends Purdue Dean Linda Katehi as UI provost.
— Feb. 16, 2007: After years of protests and debate, UI announces its intent to "retire" Chief Illiniwek.
— April 2007: Shortly after 32 are killed at Virginia Tech, Herman's office announces plans for an emergency notification system that had been in the works before the shooting spree.
— Aug. 8, 2007: National Science Foundation board recommends Illinois as home for $200 million petascale computing facility.
— October 2007: Herman reverses policy and allows Chief Illiniwek images in homecoming parade.
— March 11, 2008: Herman asks Champaign City Council to re-evaluate alcohol policies and bar entry ages, after another "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" leads to nearly 200 tickets and the closure of three bars.
— April 28, 2008: Herman elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
— May 2008: UI, Singapore launch Advanced Digital Sciences Center.
— Oct. 6, 2008: Founders with the Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Fund and UI officials announce they would terminate the agreement that created the academy fund and would have provided money for teaching and research on capitalism and limited government.
— February 2009: Jorge Paulo Lemann of Switzerland and his family pledge to give $14 million to establish a Brazilian studies institute on campus. It is the largest gift ever to the university from non-alumni.
— May 1, 2009: Linda Katehi resigns as UI provost to become chancellor of California-Davis.
— May 17, 2009: First members of "Illinois Promise" class graduate.
— May 29, 2009: First reports of "Category I" admissions list surface.
— June 2009: State commission begins meeting to examine admissions and influence.
— August 2009: Admissions commission recommends all UI trustees resign and a new UI board consider White and Herman's jobs.
— Sept. 4, 2009: Gov. Pat Quinn names new members of the UI board after seven of nine submit resignations as he requested.
— Sept. 14, 2009: UI faculty-student senate approves resolution urging "orderly transition" removing White and Herman from office.
— Sept. 23, 2009: White announces he will resign effective Dec. 31.
— Oct. 20, 2009: Herman announces he will resign.
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- Obituaries