MEDIA ADVISORY
                                                                    November 18, 2002

Contact:
Terry Hapney, Director of Communications
Office: (740) 351-3112; FAX: (740) 351-3179
E-mail: thapney@shawnee.edu

To news directors, assignment managers, editors, producers, and reporters:

Don Betz, Ph.D., the second of three finalists for the position of president at Shawnee State University, will visit the SSU campus on Tuesday, November 19. Michael T. Marsden, Ph.D., the third finalist, will visit the SSU campus on Thursday, November 21.

Betz, provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Central Oklahoma, has over 30 years of experience in higher education, including appointments as vice president of university relations; professor; dean of continuing studies; director of the Sequoyah Institute; assistant to the president; assistant professor; associate professor; director of university relations; and executive director of educational foundation. Institutions at which he was appointed include University of Central Oklahoma, Palmer College of Chiropractic, and Northeastern State University. He also has extensive experience in international relations. His Ph.D. and M.A. are in international studies from the University of Denver (1973 and 1969 respectively), and B.A. is in political science and philosophy from the University of San Francisco (1967).

Marsden, provost and vice president for academic affairs and research, and professor of English (on sabbatical) at Eastern Kentucky University, has over 30 years of experience in higher education. Marsden has held positions as professor, dean, coordinator of Northern Michigan University press, interim head, interim chair, associate dean, director of Canadian Studies, assistant dean, director of American Culture Ph.D. program, associate professor, university coordinator for undergraduate recruiting, acting chair, visiting professor of culture and technology; and instructor. His appointments have been at University of Minnesota, Morris; Bowling Green State University; University of Chicago; Northern Michigan University; and Eastern Kentucky University. His Ph.D. is in English (American lit./popular culture studies) from Bowling Green State University (1972); M.A. is in English (American lit./16^th century British lit.) from Purdue University (1966); and B.A. is in English from DePaul University (1964)^.

Representatives from local, regional, and statewide media outlets are invited to attend an interview session scheduled with Betz from 3:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 19, and Marsden from 3:15 to 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, November 21, in the President’s Conference Room located in the Administration Building on the SSU campus. An open forum for the community is scheduled from 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. those same days in the Flohr Lecture Hall located in the Clark Memorial Library on the SSU campus. This may provide additional time to conduct interviews.

Call the SSU Office of Communications at (740) 351-3112 for more information, or visit the SSU web site at www.shawnee.edu and click on “Presidential Search” in the lower, left-hand corner of the page.

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