Schools

University of Iowa President Sally Mason Receives Much Needed Statements of Support from Campus Leaders

After a few weeks of mostly negative reviews, including from the Board of Regents and the Governor of iowa, Mason received some statements from backers.


It's been a rough few weeks for University of Iowa President Sally Mason, but she received a boost today.

After weathering critiques about her dealing with the Peter Gray incident such influential people as members of the State Board of Regents and Governor Terry Branstad, Mason today received a statement of support from members of the University of Iowa's student and faculty organizations.

The university has made "outstanding accomplishments" during Mason's five-year tenure, improving student retention, recovering from a historic 2008 flood and minimizing the impact of state funding cuts, said presidents of the Faculty Senate, Staff Council and student governments representing undergraduate and graduate students.

"President Mason and her administration have achieved these through their determined and skillful leadership," the campus leaders wrote in a statement distributed to the media. "Under President Mason's leadership, the university has not only survived but thrived despite a devastating flood, one of the country's worst recessions, and consecutive years of state budget cuts."

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Members of these organizations insisted that Mason has support on campus and beseeched the state level critics to talk with them while factoring their opinion of the embattled college president.

Mason's proponents also complimented her response in helping the University as it still tries to grow past the devestating flood of 2008. They also lauded her leadership while helping the University survive the recession and state cuts to college funding.

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It was revealed last week that the Board of Regents had not renewed Mason's five year contract and considered her an at will employee with no job protections. The regents said they wanted to work with Mason to improve communications and transparency to improve the image of the University of Iowa and how it is seen by the rest of the state.


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