Western Carolina University has been searching for a new chancellor since February. They hoped to have chosen a successor for Dr. David Belcher, who passed away last month, by the start of the 2018 fall semester.
Today, UNC Board of Governor’s chair Harry Smith announced that the candidate for chancellor has withdrawn from consideration.
Smith explained in a press release that the board will undertake an expedited review of the chancellor search process.They expect to have the process in place in September.
In the meantime, Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar will continue as interim chancellor as students start classes on August 20th. Dr. Carol Burton will remain acting provost.
Co-chairs of Western’s chancellor search committee Patricia B. Kaemmerling and J. Bryant Kinney released a statement saying:
“Certainly, this is not the outcome we had hoped for, but Western Carolina University remains strong and well-positioned to continue to make great progress.We look forward to working with the WCU Board of Trustees, the UNC Board of Governors, President Margaret Spellings and the WCU campus community to ensure a successful search for our next chancellor. We are grateful to Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar, who has agreed to continue serving in the interim role, and to Dr. Carol Burton, who has agreed to remain as acting provost.
We are also immensely grateful to members of the search committee for their hard work and diligence on this search.”