UPDATE: Former Utah university president selected as new leader of Salisbury University
On Tuesday, Salisbury University officials announced that a former Utah university president will serve as the new leader of the Maryland institution.
Salisbury University officials say the University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents has appointed Dr. Charles Wight as president of Salisbury University. Dr. Wight will begin his duties as president of the university on July 1, in Salisbury. Dr. Wight will take on this leadership role following the Dr. Janet Dudley-Eshbach's previous announcement regarding her plans to step down from the position after 18 years.
Wight served as president of Weber State University in Ogden, Utah since 2013. He is credited with achieving significant progress at the Utah university including leading a $164 million fundraising campaign that exceeded the original goal by $39 million and expanding need-based financial aid.The Northern Virginia native earned his B.S. in chemistry at the University of Virginia in 1977 and his Ph.D. at Caltech in 1982.
Regarding Dr. Wight's appointment as the new president of Salisbury University, USM Chancellor Robert Caret says, " In an era of competing pressures on higher education, Charles Wight realized an impressive number of milestones during roughly five years of leading Weber State. His acumen in fundraising, growing student enrollment, and working seamlessly with state and private funding sources position him well to continue Salisbury University's strong tradition of success."
Dr. Wight is embracing his new role saying, " I am both honored and delighted by the opportunity to serve as president of Salisbury University. It's a great institution, and I'm looking forward to joining the team in July."
Mike Lurie with the University System of Maryland (USM) reports that Dr. Wight will receive a $360,000 salary as the President of SU. The appointment apparently does not have a set time limit and all public Maryland university presidents serve at the direction of the board of regents. Appointees are given an appointment letter which includes expectations. USM university presidents are also given annual performance reviews.
47 ABC spoke with SU Student Government Assoc. President Cearrah Sherman who was a part of the hiring process.
She hopes he really engages with the students, adding, "Something that would definitely be cool that we've seen other presidents do is just walking through the student center some days. Or I know that Mr. Wight mentioned that at his last university, he actually taught a class while he was being president and I would love to see something like that."
