THE FREE PRESS EDUCATION NOVEMBER 17, 1994
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UNBC begins presidential search
 Weller steps down years early to resume teaching duties
     Just two days after moving into his brand new office, the president of the University of Northern British Columbia decided to step down and return to being a professor of political science.
     The start-up phase of the university is now complete, and Geoffrey Weller says the second stage requires a new person at the top. “I believe...that the role of founding president, and the role of president of an established, fully functioning university, are different. Now that 1 have completed the former task, I feel that I should step aside and hand over the baton to someone who will focus on the new set of challenges.”
     Mr. Weller says he never thought he’d be president for the rest of his career. “I regarded myself as an academic on secondment to administration, not a career administrator, and there’s a real difference there.”
     UNBC Board Chairman Horst Sander says Mr.Weller’s sudden annoucement was a shock and he appeared a little unsure about how to handle the transition between phases. “I’ve been looking for a template for a new university. I haven’t found one and I’m beginning to realize there seem to be phases to it. There seems to be sort of a vision phase and there seems to be a building phase then there seems to be sort of a consolidation phase.”
     Mr. Sander says the president’s snap resignation is a learning experience. “I don’t have much experience in how universities operate; I come from the private sector as you know. So I have to accept these turn of events and learn to go through those phases.”
     Mr. Weller admits when he first took the job in 1992 it was understood that he’d be staying for both the start-up phase and the five years following. “Certainly the initial thought was that I would stay through two stages, for a seven-and-a-half year contract. But, in the past few months, 1 came to realize that, on reflection, this was really the point of transition which I would like to return to teaching and research rather than going through the second phase.”
     Mr. Weller’s term as president finishes in June of 1995 but he will not leave the university entirely. In fact, he says he’ll
  probably retire here. “My plans are to take some leave to prepare my courses. I haven’t been doing much teaching for the past 12 or 13 years. 1 have a research grant from the social sciences and humanities research council and I want to complete the work under that grant. And after that leave I shall come back here as a
  professor of political science and probably retire from here. 1 have no reason to think otherwise.”
     Mr. Sander says UNBC has a bright future despite Mr. Weller’s resignation. “Everything I hear inside and outside this community is that we have a quality faculty, we have a good
  solid student body. We certainly have the infrastructure and that I’m confident that the organization has the critical mass to withstand these two shocks and move forward.”
     The board will get together this week to begin the process of looking for Mr. Weller’s successor.
Weller: Handing baton over.
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