Print
E-mail
Comment
Illinois’ Murphy to become new Lee College President
 |
| Dr. Michael Murphy |
By JOSH HARDWICK
Members of the Lee College Board of Regents unanimously approved the hiring of former College of DuPage President Michael Murphy Thursday as the successor to former Lee President Martha Ellis and Interim President Dennis Topper.
Murphy holds a Doctorate in higher education administration from Indiana University and previously served as president of the College of Dupage in Illinois for 10 years, where he presided over a population of 35,000 students.
Prior to serving in Illinois, Murphy was a campus president at St. Louis Community College in Missouri, where he taught business and behavioral science at the university and community college level.
“I’m very excited about joining the college and look forward to being a part of the community,” said Murphy, who will pay a visit to Lee in December before officially starting his duties as president Jan. 5.
“I had a chance to meet some of the faculty in an open forum and was impressed not only with their technical abilities but the way they conducted themselves and the spirit that prevailed among them,” Murphy added.
The hiring of a new president came about in the midst of a tumultuous semester for the college, said board Chair Don Coffey.
In May former President Ellis announced plans to leave Lee College join the University of Texas System. Soon thereafter about 30 of the college’s academic administrators announced their retirement, placing the college in the precarious position of having to hire practically a whole new administrative cabinet.
To make matters worse, Hurricane Ike knocked out power to the campus for almost a month, sending ongoing negotiations to hire a new president into chaos.
Meetings to discuss the hiring even had to be moved to a nearby Amegy Bank building while CenterPoint Energy worked to restore power to the campus.
“[Hurricane Ike] was not something that we foresaw happening, but we are going to do our best to prepare and put a transition process in place for when this happens again,” said Coffey. “In the end it’s the results that matter, and I think everyone is going to be very happy with the results.”
Coffey said that Murphy’s experience in academic administration will prove critical for when the college beings to hire its new management team.
As a consultant for the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), Murphy has served as interim president at three other academic institutions in the past three years where he was responsible for providing a stable foundation for incoming presidents.
“We wanted someone that has hired this number of individuals on more than one occasion,” said Coffey.
Murphy promised that filling those vacancies will be a priority in his first few weeks as president, but he also stressed the importance of building the college’s infrastructure to support an influx of new students expected in the coming years.
As the economy and the country continue to face challenging times, Murphy said he expects many more people will be taking advantage of the educational opportunities offered by community colleges.
“We will face an increased number of students to educate because their families will not be able to afford the higher costs of attending other institutions,” he said. “We have to double our efforts to make sure we address those needs.”
With the worst of Hurricane Ike behind them, the board and faculty at Lee seemed more than ready to get behind their new president and tackle these new challenges.
“Dr. Murphy’s vast knowledge of higher education and his professional experience working with different colleges gives him the ability to work with diverse groups of students and colleagues as well as introduce some new ideas for Lee,” said Public Information Manager Jacqueline Whitaker. “We think he is going to be great for the college and the Baytown community.”
Murphy will be paid an annual salary of $189,000 to perform his duties as president of the college. For more information visit www.lee.edu.
Murphy holds a Doctorate in higher education administration from Indiana University and previously served as president of the College of Dupage in Illinois for 10 years, where he presided over a population of 35,000 students.
Prior to serving in Illinois, Murphy was a campus president at St. Louis Community College in Missouri, where he taught business and behavioral science at the university and community college level.
“I’m very excited about joining the college and look forward to being a part of the community,” said Murphy, who will pay a visit to Lee in December before officially starting his duties as president Jan. 5.
“I had a chance to meet some of the faculty in an open forum and was impressed not only with their technical abilities but the way they conducted themselves and the spirit that prevailed among them,” Murphy added.
The hiring of a new president came about in the midst of a tumultuous semester for the college, said board Chair Don Coffey.
In May former President Ellis announced plans to leave Lee College join the University of Texas System. Soon thereafter about 30 of the college’s academic administrators announced their retirement, placing the college in the precarious position of having to hire practically a whole new administrative cabinet.
To make matters worse, Hurricane Ike knocked out power to the campus for almost a month, sending ongoing negotiations to hire a new president into chaos.
Meetings to discuss the hiring even had to be moved to a nearby Amegy Bank building while CenterPoint Energy worked to restore power to the campus.
“[Hurricane Ike] was not something that we foresaw happening, but we are going to do our best to prepare and put a transition process in place for when this happens again,” said Coffey. “In the end it’s the results that matter, and I think everyone is going to be very happy with the results.”
Coffey said that Murphy’s experience in academic administration will prove critical for when the college beings to hire its new management team.
As a consultant for the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), Murphy has served as interim president at three other academic institutions in the past three years where he was responsible for providing a stable foundation for incoming presidents.
“We wanted someone that has hired this number of individuals on more than one occasion,” said Coffey.
Murphy promised that filling those vacancies will be a priority in his first few weeks as president, but he also stressed the importance of building the college’s infrastructure to support an influx of new students expected in the coming years.
As the economy and the country continue to face challenging times, Murphy said he expects many more people will be taking advantage of the educational opportunities offered by community colleges.
“We will face an increased number of students to educate because their families will not be able to afford the higher costs of attending other institutions,” he said. “We have to double our efforts to make sure we address those needs.”
With the worst of Hurricane Ike behind them, the board and faculty at Lee seemed more than ready to get behind their new president and tackle these new challenges.
“Dr. Murphy’s vast knowledge of higher education and his professional experience working with different colleges gives him the ability to work with diverse groups of students and colleagues as well as introduce some new ideas for Lee,” said Public Information Manager Jacqueline Whitaker. “We think he is going to be great for the college and the Baytown community.”
Murphy will be paid an annual salary of $189,000 to perform his duties as president of the college. For more information visit www.lee.edu.
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
