Ronald L. Applbaum, 57, is president of Kean University in Union, New Jersey, a position he's held since 1996.
Kean University is New Jersey's third largest public university, with a total enrollment of 11,500. Founded in 1855, Kean University offers a diverse curriculum comprised of 40 undergraduate and 21 graduate degree programs.
Under Applbaum's leadership, Kean has implemented a five-year strategic plan focusing on technological innovation, improved instruction, curriculum development, facilities improvement and personnel advancement. Among his accomplishments, Applbaum helped acquire special state funding to meet program and operational costs vital for the success of Kean and to provide greater equity in funding between the university and other colleges and universities in New Jersey.
Applbaum's vision for Kean has been the development of a comprehensive, interactive, teaching university, serving as a model for metropolitan state universities. He has pursued a course of action that makes Kean a more community-responsive, service-oriented institution that reaches out to the community, region, and state.
Prior to his tenure at Kean, Applbaum served as president of Westfield (MA) State College, vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas-Pan American, and dean of humanities at California State University, Long Beach.
Applbaum, who remains a tenured speech communications professor at Kean, is a member of the NCAA President's Council, Division III; chairman of the New Jersey Association of Colleges and Universities; member of the board of directors of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities; and holds numerous other posts. He has written more than 50 articles and seven textbooks on communications studies.
In a statement describing his philosophy of higher education, Applbaum said, Tomorrow's programs must respond to new social, economic, and job-minded realities. Instruction must make appropriate use of new technology. Programs must be developed to meet the competition of alternative providers of education. An institution must hold to its fundamental goals while updating its programs to meet the demands of a new age.
He has earned a doctorate degree in speech communication from Pennsylvania State University, bachelor's and master's degrees in speech communications from California State University, Long Beach. Applbaum and his wife, Susan, have one son.
Owen Francis Cargol
Owen Francis Cargol is in his fifth year as president of the University of Maine at Augusta. As a relatively young state school with several campuses and a commitment to teaching a wide range of students, it's a school that is similar in many ways to Grand Valley State University.
Cargol draws from his experiences in a statement of his education philosophy that he submitted to the search committee looking for a successor to longtime GVSU President Arend D. Lubbers:
The president carries a special responsibility in the education community to ensure the conversations among faculty, staff, students and the board of trustees are open and conducive to the informed exchange of ideas, philosophies and positions, Cargol said.
Another important aspect of serving as a university president is cultivating good relationships with other institutions, he wrote.
The effectiveness of any college also can be measured by the quality of its partnerships with the surrounding business and educational communities, as well as the support it receives from political constituencies, Cargol wrote. The active cultivation of the goodwill of those groups is essential to the long-term health and well-being of any school.
University of Maine at Augusta was founded in 1966, making it only a few years younger than GVSU. It has 6,166 students, many of whom are non-traditional students.
We have a great non-traditional state university, a single institution geographically dispersed, serving both traditional and non-traditional students utilizing a variety of instructional modes, Cargol wrote on the university's Web site.
Cargol describes the school as Maine's most innovative institution of higher learning.
As Maine's non-traditional state university, UMA has a clear focus on teaching and learning, Cargol wrote. We are proud of our history of providing access to higher education to citizens in all sixteen of the state's counties, and of the special emphasis we place on distance learning, adult education and workforce training.
The university has campuses in Augusta, Bangor and Lewiston-Auburn and offers 23 baccalaureate degree programs, majors and concentrations, 25 associate degrees and 12 occupation-oriented professional certificate programs.
Cargol previously served as president of Cleveland State Community College in Tennessee and as vice president for academic affairs at Highline College in Seattle. He has also served as a dean at both Louisiana State University and North Idaho College.
He holds a doctorate degree in higher education administration from Pennsylvania State University and a master's degree in adult and higher education administration from Oregon State University. He also holds bachelor's degrees in business administration from Louisiana State University and in horticulture from Oregon State University. He is a Fulbright Fellow and has completed postdoctoral studies at Harvard University.
Cargol is married to Dai-Lih Lee and has two teenage sons, Austin and Alexander.
Mark Murray
Mark Murray has enjoyed a long, varied career that includes two decades of work in state government and a former leadership role at Michigan State University.
Since 1999, Murray, 46, has been state treasurer of Michigan, a post that includes serving as education policy advisor to Governor John Engler. During that time he spearheaded the development of the Michigan Merit Award, which awards graduating high-school seniors grants of $2,500 towards post-secondary education. The program, which uses Michigan's revenue from tobacco settlements, had more than 40,000 winners in 2000.
Prior to his appointment as state treasurer, Murray served for two decades in state government leadership positions, most recently from 1994-98 as state budget director. He was also deputy director of that agency from 1991-94. It was partly his vast knowledge of the state budget process that led to his return to his alma mater, Michigan State University, in 1999 as vice president for finance and operation.
While at MSU, which has an enrollment of more than 43,000 students, Murray helped implement the change from a campus busing system to incorporating the Capitol Area Transit Authority, a move that increased student access to off-campus destinations.
A year later Engler appointed Murray to his present post as state treasurer and policy advisor with emphasis on school quality initiatives. As such, he was responsible for directing the Michigan Education Assessment Program testing.
Murray also serves as a member of the appointed Detroit Public School Board and led negotiations for reform that resulted in the state taking control of the board.
Murray first joined state government in 1978, in the Department of Social Services. He then worked in the Department of Commerce from 1985-90, the Department of Management and Budget from 1990-91, and was acting director of the Family Independence Agency from 1996-97.
Current board membership includes chairing the Michigan Education Trust, the School Accountability Board and the Merit Award Board, and service on the Michigan Economic Growth Authority, the Michigan Historical Commission, Michigan State Employees Retirement Board and the Education Policy Center at MSU, among others.
Past memberships include the Midwest Higher Education Commission and the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Panel on the Lansing Public Schools.
Murray received his bachelor's degree in economics in 1976 and a master's in labor and industrial relations in 1979, both from MSU. Honors he has received include an honorary doctorate in public service from Eastern Michigan University in 2000, the Donald L. Scantlebury Award for Leadership in State Government Finance in 1998, and Michigan Public Servant of the Year in 1992.
A lifelong Lansing resident, Murray and his wife, Elizabeth, have three children.
Interview Dates with Candidates:
February 28 Ronald L. Applbaum
March 1 Mark Murray
March 2 Owen Francis Cargol
Interview Schedule with GVSU Presidential Candidates:
8:00-9:00 a.m. Staff, Alumni House
9:15-10:15 a.m. Executive Officers/Board of Trustees, Alumni House
10:30-11:15 a.m. Campus Tour, Alumni House
11:30-1:00 p.m. Deans, Alumni House
1:30-2:30 p.m. Students, Kirkhof Center, Grand River Room
3:00-4:00 p.m. Faculty, Kirkhof Center, Grand River Room
5:00-7:00 p.m. Alumni, Community, Faculty, Staff, Students DeVos Regency Room
This schedule will enable the campus community and the public to meet and question the candidates prior to their formal public interviews with the Board of Trustees. Following the February 28-March 2 sessions on campus, the GVSU Board of Trustees will interview the candidates in public on March 14.
