DOUG HARRISON: STUDENTS' ADMINISTRATOR IS ON THE MOVE, AGAIN

Dear Karl Beeler: Thanks for keeping things together in Student Affairs while the administration searched for a new vice chancellor after your old boss, vice chancellor Sandy MacLean, left.

God knows your job probably hasn't been very fun. I mean, you had a full-time job as associate vice chancellor before Sandy left. And then he resigned, and you were named interim, effectively doubling your workload.

And heck, you had to change all your business cards to "interim vice chancellor" and move all your stuff out of your original office into the vice chancellor's big office, and hang all your degrees on the wall and rearrange the furniture and on and on.

Not that I care one way or another. Truth of the matter is, if you hadn't moved into the big office last semester, The Current wouldn't have been able to use your old office as its temporary home just after our offices were set ablaze by that degenerate band of criminals.

I don't know about you, but I hadn't been burned out of my office before. And I was pretty much near hysterical that morning the editor and I came to your office after the fire, but you handled it like a pro and treated us with concern that isn't too common these days.

So thanks.

And thanks for applying for the job of vice chancellor for Student Affairs. It's nice to know you were interested in sticking around here with us students.

When I saw the short list of four candidates from whom one would be chosen the new vice chancellor and you weren't on that list, I was pretty disappointed.

Don't get me wrong. I have no reason to think your new boss, Gary Grace, won't be the best vice chancellor for Student Affairs in the history of higher education. And I really hope he is.

But I don't know Gary Grace. I know you, and you're pretty cool. I also know that having been passed over for this promotion, you'll probably start looking around in the next couple years for another job higher up the food chain.

And who could blame you?

You're pretty young as administrators go, well-educated and perfect for some university looking for a dynamic guy to get the job done well.

No one really expects you to wait around for another crack at the vice chancellor's job here until after Dr. Grace leaves, gets fired or retires.

And if and when you leave, our loss will be someone else's gain, I suppose.

But feel no pressure from me to take to the highway any time soon. And if you need any help moving back into your old office, just let me know.