By Staff
Chancellor: ECU is a ‘great place’ to work
By GREG KATSKI
Staff Writer
East Carolina University Chancellor Steve Ballard officially announced Thursday that he has withdrawn as a candidate for the president’s position at Kansas State University. He will remain at ECU, according to a statement issued by the school.
Ballard was one of three finalists for the position, and participated in a KSU candidates’ forum last week in Manhattan, Kan.
KSU has not announced who will succeed retiring president Jon Wefald, who is stepping down at the end of the 2008-2009 academic calender year.
The Kansas Board of Regents compiled a search committee to hand pick Wefald’s successor after the KSU president stated his intentions last May. The Board of Regents governs Kansas’ six state universities, including KSU.
When asked whether Ballard was formally offered the position, the board’s Director of Government Relations and Communications, Kip Peterson, said, “I can’t comment on any aspects of the search until the board announces a final hiring decision.”
Ballard has been ECU chancellor since May 2004. In that time, enrollment has soared and the university has added major new facilities and programs, such as the East Carolina Heart Institute and the School of Dentistry, said the school-issued statement.
Before coming to ECU in 2004, Ballard served from 2001-04 as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Prior to that he was provost for research and dean of the graduate college at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.