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State schools supt. tapped as IHL commissioner |
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Wednesday, 03 June 2009 |
From Staff and Wire Reports
State Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds is the preferred candidate for commissioner of higher education.
The state’s Institutions of Higher Learning Board will vote on Bounds’ confirmation later this month.
If Bounds, 41, is approved by the College Board on June 17, he would succeed Thomas C. Meredith in the top administrative job for central office of the state’s system of eight public universities. Meredith retired Nov. 15 after a state auditor’s investigation into landscaping at his home.
Meredith’s salary was $341,250.
Bounds, as state superintendent of education, was paid 90 percent of the higher education commissioner’s salary, or just over $307,000.
“Dr. Bounds has all the qualities we were looking for. He is an exceptional leader with vision, and he has proven that he can work effectively with a range of constituency groups, from elected officials to school and university leaders,” said Ed Blakeslee, chair of the board search committee for the commissioner’s position.
“We are confident he is the right choice.”
Aubrey Lucas, a retired president of the University of Southern Mississippi, has served as interim commissioner since Meredith departed the position.
Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum, in a statement Wednesday, said Bounds understands the issues affecting the state’s higher education system.
“Dr. Hank Bounds is a product of the Mississippi education system, and he understands it very well. He has earned high marks in our state and nationally for his exceptional leadership and vision in tackling difficult issues associated with K-12 education in our state, including responding to tremendous challenges in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,” said Keenum in a statement released late Tuesday afternoon.
“He will bring the same level of energy and enthusiasm to the IHL. I have every confidence he will make a seamless transition, and I am excited about the opportunity to work with him.”
Bounds is a 1985 graduate of Forrest County Agricultural High School.
He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi and his doctoral degree from the University of Mississippi.
He was principal at Lumberton High from 1996-2001 before spending two years as principal at Pascagoula High School. He became Pascagoula schools superintendent in 2001.
Since taking over as state superintendent in 2005, Bounds has been praised by state lawmakers for his management skills.
He started the job a few weeks before Hurricane Katrina left a wide path of destruction along the Mississippi coast.
Bounds was credited with helping coast schools find buses, books and other supplies they needed to reopen after the storm.
He has also successfully pushed for legislation to fire school superintendents in districts that are low-performing. Bounds scrapped the rating system and he worked to implement a tougher curriculum with more rigorous standardized tests.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 June 2009 )
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