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Cox steps down as higher-ed chancellor Ex-SOU chief is called an honest advocate By TONY BOOM Former Southern Oregon University President Joe Cox announced his retirement as chancellor of the Oregon University System on Tuesday. Ashland community leaders and SOU officials said Cox, who led SOU for seven years, was a successful advocate both for the institutions of higher education and for the people on the campuses. Cox has led Oregon's seven public universities since 1994. He told the state Board of Higher Education that he is leaving to spend more time teaching and consulting in higher education. Departing in spring 2002 would allow time for a national search for his successor, Cox said. "It's the right time for me, and for the system," he said in a letter to staff and the presidents of the state's public universities. "He knew people on campus by name and seemed genuinely interested in what (they) were doing and why," said SOU mathematics Professor John Whitesitt, a former Faculty Senate president. "He also understood that the day-to-day running of the campus was not his job." Cox approached budget constraints head-on, said Whitesitt. "He told things the way they were and then found ways to deal with them. I never got the feeling he was attempting to pull the wool over our eyes." "What most impressed me ... was how much higher education really mattered to him," said Shirley Patton, a member of SOU's Regional Advisory Board. "He appreciated its value in the students' lives as well as in the wider community." Patton said Cox has a gift of communicating higher education's missions and challenges with clarity and candor. "I never had the feeling he was weaseling around," said Patton. "Joe has been a wonderful colleague and friend, so on a personal level I'm sorry he's stepping down," said interim SOU President Sara Hopkins-Powell. "He's always been a mentor for me." Hopkins-Powell said Cox's top accomplishments were a new budget model that allows more rational decisions, good relations with the Legislature and greater autonomy for the system from state government. "What he brought to Southern was a collegial, consultative style that resonated with this campus culture," said Hopkins-Powell. Cox aided SOU with support for the Center for the Visual Arts and the upcoming library expansion, said Sid DeBoer, president of Lithia Motors and former president of the SOU Foundation. "He's been a wonderful asset to the state system-innovative, creative and supportive to SOU but fair to the rest of the system," said DeBoer. "He gave all that he could." Don VanLuvanee, president of the state board, said the search for Cox's successor will begin soon. Cox has agreed to serve until a successor is in place. During his tenure, Cox, 64, guided Oregon's higher education system through a major reorganization and increasing enrollments, and he helped implement new student-centered budgets and performance-based governance plans for each school. He led efforts to build support for engineering and computer science programs and establish closer ties with the state business sector. He also helped open new university centers in Beaverton, Coos Bay and Bend. Cox also worked at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, and Towson State University in Baltimore. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.