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Head of student services steps down, still around
Douglas Samuels cites personal reasons, will take on professorship
By David Pollan and Geof Wollerman
dpollan@mscd.edu • gwollerm@mscd.edu

File photo Douglas Samuels resigned as vice president of student services on Oct. 16 after serving less than a year in the position. He will assume a role as a professor in the African and African-American Studies Department.

Metro’s vice president of student services was placed on administrative leave on Oct. 12 and resigned his administrative position on Oct. 16, citing personal reasons.

Douglas Samuels’ resignation comes after serving less than a year in the position. As a personnel matter, the reasons Samuels was placed on administrative leave were confidential, according to Cathy Lucas, Metro’s spokeswoman.

“Being a state agency, that’s something we can’t disclose,” Lucas said.

Samuels will accept a faculty teaching position in African and African-American Studies when he returns from leave on Oct. 25. Upon his return he will report to Ronald Stephens, chair of the department, to receive his teaching assignments.

“This is an unusual thing to happen in the middle of the semester,” Stephens said.

Because departments have already submitted their requests for courses, Samuels’ arrival will make it difficult for the department to find room for him, Stephens said.

Samuels’ resignation was his second from an administrative position in two years. In the summer of 2005 Samuels resigned from his position of vice provost for student affairs at Portland State University and became an associate professor of black studies.

Samuels interviewed for the position of vice president of student services at Metro in October 2005, was appointed to the position in November 2005 and assumed his role in January 2006 after approval from the Board of Trustees. No other candidates were considered for the position.

Student Government Assembly President Jack Wylie and Speaker of the Senate Jesse Samora, both of whom worked with Samuels, said they would be sorry to see him go.

Photo by Jenn LeBlanc • jkerriga@mscd.edu Shawn Worthy gets situated in his new office after assuming the interim role of vice president of student services.

“I’m a huge supporter of Dr. Samuels. He was a great administrator for this college and a great VP of student services,” Samora said. “I believe he will be an asset which is sorely missed, but I am very happy he is continuing on as a teacher at this institution.”

Wylie said he is concerned that Samuels’ resignation will disrupt Jordan’s plan for stability within the institution and the progress toward Metro’s preeminence that has been made so far.

Metro President Stephen Jordan announced that human services associate professor Shawn Worthy will serve as acting vice president of student services on an interim basis until a permanent replacement is found.

Worthy made it clear that he only intends to take the position on a temporary basis and accepted it because he was asked to by Jordan. Worthy said he began his career in student services and has many connections there, and feels he can serve Metro in its time of need.

He said his true love and passion is teaching and wants to return to teaching as soon as possible.

“Trust me, I’m going to be the champion of the search committee in the search for a new vice president,” Worthy said. “I’m a person who loves to talk to students and to teach.”

Worthy intends to be as effective as possible serving the school over the next few months.

“My job will be to stabilize, maintain and continue forth the conversation of rebuilding the preeminence of the institution,” he said.

Worthy is a longtime employee of Metro. He started in student services and became an associate professor of human services in 1997.

He chaired the Human Services Department from 2005-2006 and co-chaired the Equity Scorecard Project, which evaluates minority student performance. Last month he received the Golden Key Award for outstanding researcher/scholar by Metro’s Golden Key Honour Society. He holds a Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University.

Wylie said he likes what Worthy did with the Equity Scorecard Project and that he will do a great job and serve the campus well, but expressed concerns with the lack of stability.

“It would be nice to have less people in interim positions,” Wylie said.

The process for finding Samuels’ permanent replacement is expected to take at least six months.
According to Cathy Lucas, a search committee must be convened, national advertisements placed and interviews with possible candidates conducted. She estimates that a candidate will brought forth in April 2007 with the intent to have the candidate working in a full capacity by the beginning of the summer term.