NAU: Leadership change and program change not related

By Kayla Gahagan, Journal staff | Wednesday, March 19, 2008

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Richard Buckles was hired in 2003 to guide Rapid City's National American University campus because of "his proven track record of campus leadership, academic experience and interest in student-centered learning," NAU system president and chief executive officer Jerry Gallentine told the Rapid City Journal then.

"We are very pleased to have attracted such a highly qualified and dynamic leader to the campus."

Buckles was fired Friday and will no longer serve as the Rapid City campus president, university officials said Tuesday. He will be replaced by interim campus director Dennis Townsend. It was unclear why Buckles was removed from his position. Gallentine was unavailable for comment Tuesday. Reached by the Journal, Buckles declined to comment.

The university also plans to discontinue its sports programs in rodeo and volleyball and will cease recruiting for its equine-management program, although the changes are not connected to Buckles' departure, according to Tiffany Smith, assistant director of marketing.

The university said the change of programs was a response to declining numbers of high school graduates in the Midwest and an increase in the number of adults seeking higher education.

"The leadership change had nothing to do with the program changes," she said. "One did not cause the other."

Buckles was hired as the vice president of the Rapid City campus; his title was president when he was let go.

Smith said the Rapid City campus is one of 17 NAU campuses nationwide, and the title of the top leader on each campus varies from campus director to campus vice president to campus president, Smith said.

The responsibilities of those leaders include directing and leading the efforts of the individuals on campus, she said.

Buckles has a juris doctorate and an master's degree in business administration from the University of South Dakota. He also has a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with a major in accounting and was a certified public accountant and attorney when he was hired.

Before NAU, he served as chief academic and student services officer at Colorado Northwestern College in Rangely, Colo. He and his wife, Sharon, are South Dakota natives.

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Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com