Less than a year after leaving the provost position at Ohio University because of different administrative styles than new President Roderick McDavis, Stephen Kopp was named one of the final four candidates for the presidency position at Marshall University on Friday.
I am inspired by the challenges and opportunities that this position offers
Kopp wrote in an e-mail, and believe that I can make a positive difference in the future of the university in ways that will benefit the people and communities it serves.
Kopp, who was selected from more than 50 candidates, is the special assistant to the chancellor with the Board of Regents and a tenured faculty member at OU with a $199,100 year contract, which started July 1, 2004.
OU spokesman Jack Jeffery said the university has no comment on Kopp's candidacy. Marshall, located in Huntington, W. Va., has 14,000 students, compared to OU's 20,000. Its tuition for 2005-2006 is $3,932, while OU's is $8,235.
A 20-member committee consisting of the Board of Governors, Marshall staff and the Higher Education Policy Commission was asked in March to present three to five candidates to the Board of Trustees for the final selection.
Interim President Michael Farrell, who took office January 1 of this year, is not eligible for the permanent position, according to Farrell's biography on Marshall's Web site. Farrell replaced former Marshall President Dan Angel Dec 31.
The other finalists are John Bardo, chancellor of Western California University; Thomas Hanley, vice president and former provost at OU's peer institute Auburn University; and Charles Kupchella, president of the University of North Dakota.
This position is an exceptional leadership opportunity Kopp wrote. Marshall University is a distinguished institution of higher learning that has the potential and the dedication to become one of the great public universities in America.
A candidate will be named after the four participate in on-campus interviews, said Sue Tams, spokeswoman for Marshall.
Bardo will be the first to interview Wednesday and Thursday and the other three will visit Marshall next week. A salary has not been announced and cannot be compared to that of the current sixth month interim president, Tams said.
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