Shirvani Survives For Now

It sure seemed like the state was set for an ambush of embattled Chancellor Hamid Shirvani at today’s State Board of Higher Education meeting. A student lobbyist who had pushed votes of “no confidence” in Shirvani in the past was doing some last minute shopping for criticism of Shirvani from legislators last night, and this morning there was a last-minute addition to the agenda for a review of Shirvani’s management.

Board member Kari Reichert claimed that she had requested the agenda item be added before the meeting, and after much debate, it was added per Valley News Live’s Brandon Clark:

Once the agenda item was added, anti-Shirvani board members expressed concerns about the amount of turnover in upper NDUS management. In recent days NDUS employees Bill Eggert and Josh Riedy have left the university system office.

“I am troubled that you are not concerned when your senior staff people are leaving,” Reichert told Shirvani at one point, but board member Kathleen Neset didn’t see a problem. “In business when you have a change of command, you generally have turnover,” she said. “I am not concerned.”

Ultimately the board approved a motion for a complete review of Chancellor Shirvani’s performance in June, with the guidelines for that review to be set later.

That’s a reprieve for Shirvani who may very well have lost his job today. It’s also an indication that Shirvani’s political enemies may not have the votes yet to push him out.

Update: Brandon Clark’s VNL story here.