What a Margaret Spellings Presidency Might Mean for North Carolina

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When word got out that the University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors was holding an emergency session on Friday to meet with one finalist for the system’s presidency — and that the finalist was Margaret Spellings, a former secretary of education under President George W. Bush — it quickly became the topic of the day in higher-education circles.

The news was the latest chapter in a series of highly divisive and politically charged episodes that began in January, when Thomas W. Ross, the system’s president, was pushed out by a Republican-led board. The board’s chair, John C. Fennebresque, at the time denied speculation that Mr. Ross’s ouster had been politically motivated but otherwise declined to explain the move.

The search for Mr. Ross’s successor has been filled with tensions among the board, the system’s campuses, and the state legislature. James Moeser, a former chancellor of the Chapel Hill flagship and now a professor of music there, said the board appeared to be a “circular firing squad,” with members “quarreling among themselves and with their legislative electors in a very public and embarrassing way.”

Some on the board have called for Mr. Fennebresque to step down. He did not respond to a request for comment early on Friday. The board met in closed session for several hours in the afternoon but adjourned without making any public comments.

While Ms. Spellings hasn’t followed the traditional career path of a university leader, her name is well known to those in higher education, where it’s most associated with creating the Commission on the Future of Higher Education — often called the Spellings Commission. The commission worked to make college more accessible and affordable, but it may be most remembered for pushing to hold colleges accountable. Ms. Spellings currently serves as president of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, in Dallas.

A spokeswoman for the center referred a request to contact Ms. Spellings to the university system, whose own spokeswoman provided a written statement on behalf of the search committee. The committee said that the process was confidential and that it would be “inappropriate to publicly discuss details at this time.”

It is not clear whether Ms. Spellings will be offered the job or whether other candidates will be considered. A bill passed by the legislature would require the search committee to submit three candidates to the full board before a vote, but that legislation has not yet been signed into law. The Associated Press reported on Friday that a spokesman for Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, said the governor didn’t like the measure and wouldn’t decide what to do with it until October 30, the deadline for when he could sign it — and also the next day the board is scheduled to meet.

In the meantime, questions about the search for a new system president continue to swirl. Here’s what we know so far:

What might make Ms. Spellings an appealing candidate to the board?

Professors might prefer a president who has come up through their ranks, but these days, public-university boards see political experience as an asset. After all, dealing with the state legislature is a key part of the job.

Ms. Spellings has political connections and a national profile without the baggage of someone who’s held or run for office, said Donald E. Heller, dean of Michigan State University’s College of Education. The board probably sees her as someone who could forge relationships between the system and the state legislature. And, he added, they may think Ms. Spellings could offer stability to a system that’s had more than its share of recent turmoil.

“I don’t think she would be seen as a polarizing figure,” Mr. Heller said.

At the department, Ms. Spellings was known for pushing accountability, he added. A system head, on the other hand, advocates for the institution, and “in many cases that means pushing against intrusion from the federal government.”

But that doesn’t mean leading the system wouldn’t allow Ms. Spellings to sustain her accountability push, Mr. Heller said. Another part of the role is holding the system’s campuses accountable.

States are divesting from higher education, noted Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, who served on the Spellings Commission. That means public-college leaders have to ask for more support. “I’d think of Margaret as a very able advocate and somebody who could navigate the politics of a state legislature,” Ms. Haycock said. Part of that, she added, means knowing that in return for resources, state leaders will expect results.

How might Ms. Spellings’s track record translate to this new role?

Her time leading the Education Department suggests that “she’s a reform-minded person,” said Andrew P. Kelly, director of the American Enterprise Institute’s Center on Higher Education Reform. The former secretary would most likely continue to push for transparency, accountability, and measures of student learning, he said. Given the recent scandals that the system — and especially its flagship — has faced, a leader “who has a reputation for being unafraid to push educators and educational institutions to be transparent” could help rebuild confidence in it, he said.

What else do people who’ve worked with Ms. Spellings have to say about her?

When Charles Miller participated in searches as chairman of the University of Texas system’s Board of Regents, the main quality he looked for was character, he said. Mr. Miller, who was chair of the Spellings Commission, said the former secretary, whom he has known for nearly 25 years, fits that bill.

Mr. Miller added that Ms. Spellings knows the academic terrain. “There are very few people in the country that have a better understanding of the big-picture issues in higher education,” he said.

Ms. Spellings has also accumulated some less-likely fans, including Ms. Haycock. “I am a lifelong Democrat, but I adore Margaret Spellings,” Ms. Haycock said. “She came to Washington with just an intense passion about low-income students and students of color.” Love or hate No Child Left Behind, the Bush administration’s effort to improve the public schools, it was born of that passion, she said.

Robert Zemsky, another member of the commission, has criticized some aspects of the project. But Mr. Zemsky, a professor and chair of the Learning Alliance for Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania, also praised the commission’s namesake.

“She is one tough lady,” Mr. Zemsky said. “I was much impressed with her.”

What are North Carolina faculty members saying about Ms. Spellings?

Altha Cravey, an associate professor of geography on the Chapel Hill campus, faulted Ms. Spellings for her dearth of experience in academe, noting that the former secretary’s most direct involvement at a major institution was her time spent on the University of Phoenix’s board. (Ms. Spellings served on the compensation committee as an independent director on the board of the university’s parent company, Apollo Education Group, from June 2012 to August 2013.)

And the Spellings Commission, Ms. Cravey said, was one of the first proponents of performance-based funding in higher education. She doesn’t want a president who “comes in with a quick fix based on metrics and accountability.”

Stephen Leonard, chair of the UNC system’s Faculty Assembly, said he was reserving judgment about Ms. Spellings until faculty members had been granted their request to meet with her.

What do faculty members think about the board’s handling of the search?

Mr. Moeser, the former Chapel Hill chancellor, said that the board’s infighting and the legislature’s attempts to intervene reflect that “the worst aspects of partisan politics have now infected the leadership of this university system.”

He said he understood why the search was closed. However, Mr. Leonard said, he has strong concerns about the lack of faculty input in the process.

What might happen from here?

Friday’s board meeting, which took place mostly in closed session, didn’t offer many answers. W. Marty Kotis III, a board member, is among those calling on Mr. Fennebresque to resign as chair over his handling of the search. “You can’t sit back and just watch a train wreck occur when there’s a chance to avoid it,” he said.

But no matter who is named president, that person will come into the role at a disadvantage, Mr. Leonard said.

Regardless of qualifications, he said, the system’s new leader “is going to have to deal with the confidence and trust deficit that he or she will inherit as a result of this process.”

Beckie Supiano writes about college affordability, the job market for new graduates, and professional schools, among other things. Follow her on Twitter @becksup, or drop her a line at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com.