Dr. Richard McCallum, Missouri Southern’s vice president for academic affairs, accepted the top post at Dickinson State University. The North Dakota Board of Higher Education voted Wednesday to offer the job to McCallum after interviewing him and Bruce Speck, the provost and vice president for academic and student affairs at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn.

“I have had an opportunity that has been offered to me and I have chosen to accept it,” McCallum told The Chart. McCallum told the Associated Press he was impressed by Dickinson State’s strong undergraduate education programs and its Global Awareness Initiative, which recruits international students and faculty and makes scholarships available to qualified students.

“As I moved through the interview process and got to meet some of the people, I began to realize that the people and the programs together are an outstanding combination,” he said. According to the DSU release, McCallum will begin his duties April 1, 2008 at an annual salary of $165,000 per year, as opposed to last years $121,367 at Southern. According to the 2007-2008 Official Manual of the State of Missouri, last year, Southern President Emeritus Julio Leon made $168,518.

“I think we are all aware he has had a number of applications out for the past year,” said Dwight Douglas, chairman of the University Board of Governors and chairman of the presidential search committee. Douglas said McCallum’s departure should not affect Southern’s ongoing accreditation efforts.

“We have a full accreditation committee,” he said. “By that time we’ll have almost everything done.”

León said tonight [Dec. 5] that University vice presidents moving on is nothing new.

“I have had the privilege of two of my vice presidents becoming university presidents,” he said. “It is great to have a third.

“I am really very happy for him.”Missouri Southern has about 5,800 students; Dickinson State has an enrollment of about 2,500.

Board members were “very impressed by Dr. McCallum’s vision for the future of Dickinson State University,” said the board’s president, John Q. Paulsen. “He understands the rich history of Dickinson State University and the importance of DSU to its students, the community, the region, and the state of North Dakota.”