University of Missouri curators poised to make big mistake — and UMKC will pay the price

The Board of Curators for the University of Missouri system is poised to make a major mistake Tuesday, one that will hurt students in Kansas City, St. Louis and Rolla, while doing little to improve education at the system’s Columbia campus.

Dr. Mun Choi is currently president of the four-campus MU system, which includes the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Each university has a chancellor. Because of a recent vacancy, Choi is serving as the interim chancellor at MU.

Giving Choi two jobs temporarily may have made sense several months ago. Now, though, the curators, with only vague public discussion, want to make the arrangement permanent. They’re likely to do so Tuesday.

No one should want this. If this consequential structural change is approved, UMKC, UMSL, and Missouri S&T will become second-class participants in the state system of higher education.

Faculty groups at UMKC, UMSL, and Missouri S&T have asked the curators to reject the plan. “The president of the UM system needs to represent all four campuses without partiality or prejudice,” one faculty resolution says.

In June, the chairman of UMKC’s Board of Trustees wrote the curators to make a similar point. “The proposal being considered … has many inherent conflicts,” Scott Boswell’s letter says.

What if NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell became president of the Chiefs? Would the other teams have reason to doubt his impartiality and his focus? Yes. That’s what’s going on here.

Supporters of giving Choi both jobs dismiss those concerns. They say Choi has performed admirably wearing two hats.

We have our doubts. A few weeks ago, Choi startled the MU system by suggesting employees who disagree with his decisions should look for work someplace else.

That’s an astonishing ask from any administrator, but it’s frightening coming from the head of a major American university system. The essence of higher education is free discussion and dissent.

Last time we looked, “my way or the highway” was not Missouri’s motto.

It’s increasingly clear the decision to elevate Missouri-Columbia at the expense of the other schools has been under quiet consideration for some time. As we previously reported, curators and university officials met with UMKC trustees in June, trying to convince them to support the move.

At the time, UMKC trustees believed the deal was done. Little has changed since then.

In a meeting with reporters in June, curators’ chairwoman Julia Brncic said she already supported combining Choi’s jobs and would push for a vote July 28. “We need to figure out who’s steering the ship,” she said.

In a letter sent earlier this month to faculty at Missouri S&T, Brncic said conflict concerns could be addressed. She didn’t say how.

As of early Monday morning the curators’ meeting notice and agenda could not be found on the board’s website. They were finally posted before noon, barely providing interested parties with information about the meeting.

Secret discussions are planned for Tuesday.

This is an unnecessary rush job. The chancellorship at Missouri-Columbia is a coveted position in higher education — it shouldn’t be hard to find a quality candidate who isn’t Mun Choi, while maintaining the status of the three campuses that aren’t Missouri-Columbia.

The Board of Curators must go back to the drawing board.