THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 12, 1996 TAG: 9606120495
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 58 lines
Interim Chancellor Mickey L. Burnim has the inside track on becoming the permanent head of Elizabeth City State University.
Burnim is one of two official finalists for the chancellorship, given up by Jimmy R. Jenkins Jr., who unexpectedly resigned the post last August.
But shortly after the Board of Trustees met with Burnim Tuesday, word spread that Burnim's rival was no longer in the running.
Earlier this year an ECSU trustees search committee selected Burnim and Dr. Carl Carpenter, a retired former interim chancellor at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, as finalists for the ECSU post.
The University of North Carolina Board of Governors said it would select a new ECSU chancellor from the two candidates this month.
A telephone call from the Chapel Hill office of UNC President C.D. Spangler Jr. changed everything this week.
``President Spangler notified Dr. Carpenter on Monday that he was no longer being considered for the ECSU position,'' said Parthelia Carpenter, wife of the former South Carolina State interim chancellor.
She is an administrator at the university where her husband was interim chancellor before his retirement. Her husband was not immediately available for further comment on Tuesday.
Selection of a chancellor in the 16-campus UNC system involves a high degree of secrecy up to the final moment when the UNC Board of Governors makes a choice.
``There will be no announcement from President Spangler's office until that happens,'' said Joni Worthington, a spokeswoman for Spangler.
The Board of Governors willnotify Spangler when a new ECSU chancellor has been selected and then the trustees in Elizabeth City will be notified.
At the Tuesday meeting of the Board of Trustees in the G.R. Little Library no information, official or otherwise, was received about the elimination of Dr. Carpenter as a candidate.
But Burnim, 46, held the attention of the trustees when he spoke to the board.
After reviewing what he called ``a fine academic year,'' Burnim candidly criticized the performance of some members of his ECSU faculty.
Under the label of ``Challenges and Issues For The Future,'' Burnim cited what he called the ``large number of teacher absences'' on campus and ``poorly prepared syllabi (teaching courses).''
Burnim took a ruler to faculty knuckles in other areas, including:
``Poor academic advising.''
``Uncaring, insensitive attitudes.''
``Need to review and update academic policies.''
The audience applauded at the end of his pointed comments.
Earlier, several former ECSU trustees and veteran officials were awarded citations for distinguished service. They included Dr. Kermit White, for whom a continuing education building is named; E.V. Wilkins, chairman of the board for many years; Edna Randolph, who graduated from the university in 1945; and John Morrison, an Elizabeth City attorney who served several terms as a trustee. by CNB