Newspaper Page Text
Regents Name ISU Administrator
Maurice Townsend Next President
BY ALLEN GUNTER
Dr. Maurice Karlen Townsend. 49, a native of
Vakima, Washington, and vice president for
academic affairs at Indiana State University,
has been named as the next president of West
Georgia College.
Townsend was officially appointed Wednesday
by the Board of Regents and will assume duties
here July 1. He will be the fifth president in the 45-
year history of the college.
The new president, who was in Atlanta for the
announcement, said, “I am delighted and
honored to have been chosen as president of West
Georgia.' Townsend said he didn't know until
Tuesday afternoon when he received a call from
Board of Regents Chancellor George L. Simp
son that he had been officially selected for the
job
“1 think it would be premature to evaluate any
particular problems or circumstances at West
Georgia,” he said. Townsend’s only visit to the
campus was in February when he was here for
interviews in connection with the presidential
search.
He returned to his Indiana home following the
appointment but said he planned two or three
visits to the campus in the coming weeks. He
added he would also spend several days in
Chancellor Simpson’s office to familiarize
himself with University System policies.
The appointment ended a seven month search
for a president which began when Dr. Ward
Pafford announced in September that he would
resign the job at the end of the academic year.
Townsend, who has been at ISU for six years,
was among seven “front runner” candidates
who a special advisory search committee had
been considering for the past month. The 23
member committee selected Townsend after
initially screening more than 180 applicants.
WEST (.KOIU.IW
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VeNjy
WGC Unaffected
By New Price Hike
Students at West Georgia
College will not be affected by
new increases in housing costs
and food service prices ap
proved Wednesday by the
Board of Regents, according to
a local member of the board.
Lamar Plunkett, state
member at large for the board,
from Bowdon said late Wednes
day evening that the new
post increases were designed
for a specific institutions in the
University System, unlike the
tuition increase approved four
months ago, which was an
across the board increase for all
institutions in the system. The
new increases, like the tuition
hike, take effect in the summer
quarter.
“West Georgia College was
not affected in either of the two
increases,” said Plunkett. “One
reason for this ;s due to the fact
that West Georgia has had past
West Georgia College, Carrollton, Ga. 30117
Volume 41 No. 29
increases in these areas when
other schools in the system have
not been affected.”
According to reports, the
increases will affect 10 in
stitutions in regard to the new
housing costs while the food
price will be raised at only nine
colleges. On the average,
Plunkett said, the increases
were minimal. The average
increase will be about 10 per
cent, he said.
In actual figures, the in
creases work out to about a S2O
- jump per student for on
campus housing. For food
services, the increase will be
around S3O per student.
The institutions affected by
the new increases include
Georgia Tech, Georgia
Southern, and the University of
Georgia.
Dr. Don Wells, head of the
political science department,
who chaired the committee said
the group concluded its search
at a Monday meeting by
recommending Townsend.
Simpson, who attended that
Monday meeting, then
recommended Townsend to the
full Board of Regents for ap
proval. Simpson had also met
with the search committee
several times prior to this
week’s meeting.
Commenting on the com
mittee’s choice, Simpson said,
“I am delighted with Dr.
Townsend as the choice and am
glad to have him with us.”
Other members of the West
Georgia community indicated
they were pleased with the
appointment of Townsend.
Dr. J. Mark Miller, dean of
the school of business, said,
“The chancellor picked a good
man who seems to be very well
qualified. I am looking forward
to working with him.”
Lamar Plunkett, a member of
the Board of Regents from
Bowdon, said, “I met with
Townsend before the meeting
(Wednesday) and discussed
some of his philosophies and
policies. So far as I can see, he’s
an excellent choice for the
position.”
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West Georgia students jump at the chance to
participate in the sack races, one of the many
activities of the college’s first “super weekend.’’
See story page 3.
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NO VACANCY The question of “who will fill the president’s
chair” was answered this week when the University Board of
Regents approved Dr. Maurice Karlen Townsend, vice president of
academic affairs at Indiana State University, to be the next
president of West Georiga College.
William Traylor, city
manager of Carrollton, said,
“I’d like to issue a warm and
friendly welcome to Dr.
Townsend. I am looking for
ward to working with him and
would like to welcome him to
our community.”
Friday, April 11, 1975
Mrs. Vickie Carrithers, housing director, said,
“They have a really good housing program at
ISU and I’m looking forward to sharing
philosophies with him on this.”
And Dr. Lem Norrell, professor of English and
an advisory search committee member, said, “I
am very well pleased.”
Townsend, who holds a doctorate in political
science from the University of Chicago, was one
of five candidates from outside the West Georgia
campus who were interviewd here in the last
three months. Two other candidates the com
mitttee had considered are currently at West
Georgia. They are Dr. Richard Dangle, dean of
the School of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. John
Martin, dean of faculties and vice president of
the college.
In addition to the interviews here, search
committee members travelled to the home
campus of the candidates to conduct “on cam
pus” interviews. Wells said that committee
members visited ISU in March. “We were very
impressed with the interview here as well as the
on campus visit,” Wells said.
“His views and philosophy on education are
highly consistent with our views,” Wells said.
Townsend graduated in 1949 from Boston
University with an A.B. degree in political
science. He received his M.A., also in political
science, and from the University of Chicago in
1950 and earned his doctorate there in 1954.
Prior to his job at ISU, he was dean of the
college at Stanislaus State College in California
for two years and before that he held various
positions at Moorhead State College in
Missesota.
Townsend has also held various ad
ministrative jobs including a position on the field
staff of the Public Service Administration in
Chicago.
Townsend is married to the former Lucille
Schoolcraft of Norfolk, Virginia. The couple has
four children, Leslie, 16, Leah, 13, Steven, 12, and
Bradley, 10.
Charges Reduced
Against Four
Charges against at least four of the West
Georgia College students allegedly in
volved in the Feb. 1 vandalism of a
cigarette machine in Roberts Hall have
been reduced to misdemeanors, ac
cording to Aubrey Gilbert, Carrollton
attorney who is representing three of the
six students allegedly involved.
The cases will come up in the June
session of the State Court of Carroll
County, according to Gilbert.