Earlier this week, the three finalists in the running to lead University of Massachusetts-Boston unexpectedly withdrew their names from consideration.
University President Marty Meehan said the three dropped out of the running after the university's faculty council released a statement saying they believed "none of the final candidates have demonstrated that they are sufficiently qualified to serve as the chancellor." Meehan also said he was "mortified" and apologized to the candidates for the way the situation played out.
Paul Reville, professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and former state Secretary of Education, joined Boston Public Radio to discuss where the university should go from here.
"Unfortunately, it's put UMass Boston in a very poor position to attract the kind of talent and leadership they need in the future," Reville said.
"It's an urgent problem, but there is no immediate quick fix solution, I think, until the Commonwealth — and by this I mean the Governor, the legislature, the UMass administration generally — address the financial problems that have beleaguered this institution for so long," he continued.
Reville said he believed the faculty's rejection of the three candidates had less to do with their own qualifications and more to do with the faculty council's view of Meehan's leadership.
"I didn't really hear substantive objections emerging from the faculty relative to these candidates. I heard a lot of scurrilous rumor making that was based on no evidence," he said.
"What I saw in this was resistance to the leadership of the president of the university," Reville added.
Click the audio player above to hear more from Paul Reville.
