What a YSU president needs

What a YSU president needs

EDITOR:

As a taxpayer, citizen, former employee and holder of undergraduate and graduate degrees from Youngstown State University, I would like to cite a few attributes that I would like to see in the next YSU president.

If YSU is to continue its progressive leadership in the new decade, I believe that, in additional to the usual organizational and administrative skills, the new president must:

X Have a broad knowledge of fund raising.

X Be able to further stabilize enrollment when the economy rebounds and the new Warren-based Gateways Community College is fully operational.

X Recognize that the country has become much more diverse racially and culturally and YSU is uniquely qualified to take a stronger lead in helping the local community embrace that diversity.

X See the need to aggressively recruit minority candidates, especially African Americans and Hispanic Americans, for top administrative and faculty positions.

X See the need to actually get out in the five-county YSU service area, especially in Columbiana and Trumbull counties in Ohio, and Lawrence and Mercer counties in Pennsylvania, to address students, schools, businesses, organizations, and other groups on the educational programs that the university has to offer.

All four of the final candidates appear to have excellent credentials. I am confident that the YSU Board of Trustees, under the leadership of Scott Schulick, whom I have known for years, will make an excellent choice.

LEON STENNIS

Youngstown