Although some ISU faculty members are dissatisfied with ISU President Martin Jischke’s job performance, members of Iowa’s Board of Regents and other ISU administrators are not.

Dr. Clarkson Kelly, member of the Board of Regents, said he has complete confidence in Jischke.

“You can’t please everybody; life is not a popularity contest,” he said. “I’ve been on the regents long enough to know that we’ve got three of the finest university presidents in the U.S.”

ISU Provost Rollin Richmond said the charges against Jischke have little substance.

“This president gets things done,” he said. “I think his values are very academically driven.”

Richmond said he has gotten several e-mails in support of the ISU administration, and he said the individuals who are making the complaints need to be more specific.

“I don’t see any particular reason to institute a review,” he said. “My sense is that the university is moving forward well. This is the most de-centralized of all the institutions I’ve been in.”

Jischke also said the complaints against him in the petition are unfounded.

“A number of these individuals have been making the same complaints for the past 15 years,” he said. “The substance of these comments are untrue and unsubstantiated.”

Iowa State has clearly improved, Jischke said, citing examples such as the increases in student enrollment, retention, graduate placement and study-abroad programs.

However, Carl Mize, associate professor of forestry and supporter of the petition, does not think that retention rates reflect a quality education.

“Iowa State is not growing as a teaching institution; it’s growing as a research institution,” Mize said.

Mize also said loyalty among administrators is very important to Jischke.

“Administrators that don’t agree with Martin Jischke don’t stay around very long,” he said.

But Jischke said the petition’s accusations of “a climate of fear and repression” among ISU faculty aren’t true.

Thomas Hill, vice president for Student Affairs, said the charges are a result of differing views.

“People have their own opinions about what’s going on,” he said. “Everybody has their own perspective on it.”

John McCarroll, director of University Relations, agreed that the conflict may be the result of different perspectives.

“It’s a strength of the university that people can speak up,” he said. “There is ample opportunity if people want to disagree or express themselves with President Jischke.”

McCarroll said some of these opportunities are open forums that the president holds with each of the colleges every year and his monthly radio show on Iowa State’s WOI radio. He also said the university would be happy to address any concerns brought up by Iowa residents or ISU alumni.

ISU student and Regent Lisa Ahrens said Iowa State is providing her a quality education, and that the faculty complaints come with the job.

“I don’t think [faculty will] be satisfied with anything he presents them with,” she said. “But as a Board of Regents, we support him fully.”

In response, Mize said the Board of Regents doesn’t know the whole story.

“The regents are a fairly politicized group; they don’t pay attention to ISU very much,” he said.