Rita Cheng is SIU President Glenn Poshard’s choice to be the next chancellor at SIUC.
Cheng, provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, would begin her duties June 1.
Poshard said Cheng was the best choice to be the next chancellor.
“She has shown outstanding leadership under very difficult circumstances,” Poshard said. “She’s proven to be focused on her goals in research and enrollment growth.”
Cheng was chosen over Barbara Couture, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Cheng said she would not come to the university for a short-term stint.
“I want to assure you all that we are here for the long haul,” Cheng said. “There are no quick fixes, and we need to all roll up our sleeves and get going.”
The SIU Board of Trustees still must approve Cheng as the new chancellor at its Dec. 10 meeting.
Tom Britton, co-chairman of the chancellor search committee, said he was delighted to see Cheng selected.
“I think she will bring the kind of energy and leadership that we need,” Britton said. “As she said, it’s not going to be a quick fix. She plans on being here to help solve our problems.”
Britton said he thought the search committee did a great job of giving Poshard two quality candidates, and Poshard made a great decision in hiring Cheng.
Poshard said Cheng was chosen because she matches the needs of the university.
“Our university needs a chancellor whose strong research and scholarly background matches our desire to become a leading research university,” Poshard said. “Dr. Cheng has that background and more.”
Poshard said University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has nearly the same research goals as SIUC, and Cheng has been a pivotal factor in the progress of its efforts.
Cheng said her two main focuses when she steps into the position would be enrollment and research.
“There are two pillars,” Cheng said. “One is to grow enrollment while assuring the access and diversity traditions of the campus, and the other is to assure our research is excellent.”
Cheng said she first wants to get enrollment back to what it was before it began declining then focus on what the best figure is for the university.
Poshard said communication would be pivotal to the success of the university.
“Communication is the essence of team leadership,” Poshard said. “Dr. Cheng and I talked a lot about how we communicate, and I’m sure you’re going to see the right kind of communication to give us the right team leadership.”
Cheng said she wants to continue the traditions that have made SIUC well known.
“I will honor your tradition and champion SIU wherever I go,” Cheng said.
Stile Smith can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 259 or sts34@siu.edu.
