Appalachian State University welcomes first female chancellor Sheri Noren Everts

Two buses of Appalachian State University students and administrators traveled to Chapel Hill Wednesday to witness the selection of their new leader.

Some students left with a souvenir — a selfie with the newly-elected chancellor, Sheri Noren Everts.

Noren Everts, who will receive an annual salary of $285,00 0, will assume the office of chancellor July 1. She will be ASU’s first female chancellor and one of five currently in the UNC system.

Noren Everts is now provost and vice president for academic affairs at Illinois State University. She will replace Chancellor Kenneth Peacock, who resigned last April after leading the university for a decade.

Noren Everts said she hopes she can build on Peacock’s legacy. She quipped that Peacock’s popularity will be difficult to follow.

“I would not be surprised to learn that Chancellor Peacock drove both buses down the mountain,” she said.

UNC-system President Tom Ross said Noren Everts demonstrated all of the search committee’s qualifications.

“Sheri Noren Everts brings to the task two decades of academic and leadership experience at highly respected public universities,” he said. “At each step along the way, she has proven herself to be an energetic and effective leader who encourages creative problem-solving, promotes collaboration and inclusiveness, and demonstrates a passionate commitment to academic excellence and student success.”

Noren Everts, a Nebraska native, said she looks forward to engaging in ASU life, including cheering on the university’s football team.

“I was raised on football and corn — in that order probably,” she said.

Noren Everts is inheriting the reigns of a school in a system that is burdened with growing tuition rates and shrinking budgets.

She said she understands the students and parents who are struggling to adjust.

“I know full well what my parents went though putting eight kids through college,” she said.

Noren Everts was one of three candidates on the short list for the post. One candidate dropped from consideration when he or she took a job at another university.

The UNC-system Board of Governors had gathered in Chapel Hill to choose between the two remaining candidates.

The search process for Noren Everts drew criticism. Unlike the selection of Peacock, Noren Everts was chosen through a closed search.

The Appalachian, ASU’s student newspaper, ran a front page editorial arguing that the names of the final candidates for the post be released to the student body.

“Students and staff should be able to meet the candidate,” said The Appalachian’s Editor-in-Chief Michael Bragg. “For that to truly happen, we thought it would be better to open up the search.”

But Dylan Russell, ASU student body president, said he understands the closed search process.

“With the closed search we were able to recruit the best candidates,” he said. “We have a wonderful chancellor, and I am just happy for that.”

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