Dr. Sally Clausen Garners Leadership Roles With Top Higher Ed Groups

Dr. Sally Clausen Garners Leadership Roles With Top Higher Ed Groups – May 17, 2002

Dr. Sally Clausen, president of the University of Louisiana System, has been chosen for key leadership positions in two groups that represent most of the universities, systems and students in America.

Dr. Clausen was recently elected vice president of the National Association of System Heads (NASH), which represents 51 public university systems that enroll about 75% of all public college students in 38 states and Puerto Rico.

Also last week, she was appointed to the Council of State Representatives of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), which represents more than 430 public universities and systems that enroll more than three million students at four-year public institutions nationwide.

Both organizations promote higher education in America, analyze and help formulate public policy about education, and provide leadership and program support to strengthen academic quality, access to education, inclusion of diverse cultures and educational innovations.

Dr. Donald Langenberg, former NASH president and former chancellor of the University System of Maryland, praised Dr. Clausen as “a leader who deeply understands public higher education, its unique opportunities, challenges and responsibilities.”

“Colleagues across the nation respect Dr. Clausen’s formidable talents, and their vote for her vice presidency speaks volumes about her work and leadership nationally,” said Dr. Langenberg.

Dr. Thomas Meredith, chancellor of the University System of Georgia, was elected NASH president, and Robert T. Perry, executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents, was chosen secretary/treasurer. Other members of the NASH Executive Committee are Molly Broad, president, University of North Carolina System; Dr. Charles Reed, chancellor, California State University System; Dr. Manuel Pacheco, president, University of Missouri System; Thomas Layzell, commissioner, Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning; Dr. Jane Nichols, chancellor, University and Community College System of Nevada; and Dr. James McCormick, chancellor, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.

Dr. Constantine Curris, AASCU president, said Dr. Clausen’s role will be to represent the concerns of universities in Louisiana to AASCU as it formulates and recommends public policy.

Edward Elmendorf, AASCU vice president, said the duties of the Council of State Representatives have been expanded to include the “high priority role of observing and providing counsel on state higher education trends and issues, including responses on federal and state legislative matters.”

Dr. Curris also praised Dr. Clausen for her leadership of an AASCU task force that issued a national report in July 2001 about teacher preparation in the nations’ colleges of education. The task force urged America’s universities to do more to prepare new teachers for K-12 classrooms, to gauge the performance of new teachers and offer continuing education to experienced teachers.

“Dr. Clausen understands the importance of creating strong partnerships, particularly those with K-12 schools and business. She has a record both at the university level and the system level of effective leadership and visionary thinking when it comes to critical issues such as student performance, teacher education, and economic development,” Dr. Curris said.

Dr. Clausen, a former classroom teacher, has made teacher preparation a top priority in her ULS presidency and has called on university presidents to lead the effort to guarantee the quality of their colleges of education and the teachers they graduate. In recent weeks, she has visited each of the eight ULS campuses, presented in-depth information to the education faculty, staff and students and has visited local K-12 schools to see teacher candidates in action.

As president of Southeastern Louisiana University (1995-2001), Dr. Clausen and the university were recognized for implementing the state’s first teacher guarantee program. That program guarantees that if a new Southeastern teacher graduate is not performing satisfactorily once in the classroom, the university will retrain the teacher at no cost to the student or school system. Teacher guarantee programs are now in place throughout the UL System.

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