Chandler enters for presidential consideration

By: Jonathan Munshaw, Editor-in-Chief

Days after the presidential search committee was announced, Interim President Timothy Chandler announced at his town hall meeting that he would be entering his name for consideration for the presidency.

Chandler has served as president for the entire school year, taking over as acting president when then-President Maravene Loeschke announced she was taking a leave of absence to deal with health problems. Then, when Loeschke retired prior to the start of winter break, Chandler was named the interim president.

Chandler is the fourth person to hold the position of president in the past five years at Towson.

Bob Caret, who is returning to Maryland as the University System chancellor in July, was president in 2011 before he took a position with the University of Massachusetts.

After Caret left, then-Provost Marcia Welsh took over in the interim before Loeschke was named to the position in the fall of 2012.

Chandler said there were three factors that played into his decision: He had been asked to enter his name by some of his colleagues to maintain continuity at the University, he enjoys the position of president and he enjoys living in the Towson area.

“I hadn’t expected to enjoy the work as much as I have enjoyed it. I really liked being Provost, I really like that kind of work. And this is a very different kind of work. I found that I like both types of work,” Chandler said. “The second is that a number of people have said they would really like me to put my name in. I think partly because continuity is partly an issue. It’s about the institution, it’s about trying to maintain continuity. … I would really like to stay here, because I really like the place.”

Since taking over in the interim, Chandler said he’s had to adjust to the position. He served as provost at Towson for a year before taking over, and prior to that was provost at Kent State in Ohio.

“As provost, it would be unlikely that I would have spent the number of hours in Annapolis that I’ve spent there. Provosts are concerned about the academic side of things,” he said.

Chandler said he believes he’s qualified for the position because he’s been performing the duties of the president for a school year now, and because provosts generally are some of the first vice presidents to be considered for presidencies across the country.

If he doesn’t receive the full-time position, Chandler said he would go back to being provost if the new president appoints him to the position. If not, Chandler said he could move to another school, retire or join the faculty at Towson.

“My choice would be to stay,” he said.

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