Fritz Erickson sacked as president of Northern Michigan University

Marquette –The president of Northern Michigan University was fired on Friday after he and the school’s board could not come to an agreement on his resignation.

The NMU board voted 8-0 to remove Fritz Erickson, who had been running the Upper Peninsula school since July 2014.

In a statement, board chairman Tami Seavoy said the board “did not come to this decision lightly.”

“While we recognize and thank Dr Erickson for an outstanding job, especially as he has maintained a level of calm and stability during the pandemic, we expected more thoughtful and critical action from him on de many questions, ”wrote Seavoy. “For these reasons, we have lost confidence in his ability to run the university effectively.”

Seavoy, a Marquette attorney appointed to the board by Gov. Rick Snyder for a term that began Jan. 1, 2015, said the board had negotiated with Erickson for weeks to reach an exit deal amicably.

“It was Vice President (Steve) Young and my intention to make a deal that would have allowed Dr Erickson to voluntarily step down by the end of 2021,” Seavoy said. “Unfortunately, we were unable to come to such an agreement after several weeks of negotiations. Therefore, we determined that the termination would be in the best interests of the university.”

The directors met briefly via video conference only to fire Erickson, who was present but did not speak.

An interim president has not yet been appointed.

Erickson, 64, told the Detroit News the board approached him six weeks ago and said he wanted leadership at the helm that worked differently.

“I fully respect that,” Erickson said. “We don’t always agree on things but this relationship between the board and the president is not uncommon.”

He said the sticking point in negotiations with the board was that his wife Jan would not get his compensation if he died before the agreed payment date. He said he couldn’t accept it.

Administrator Steve Young was frank at Friday’s meeting in explaining why Erickson was fired.

“It is clear that President Erickson has done an outstanding job during his time here at NMU,” Young said, highlighting the university’s response to the pandemic and its stable finances. “Good things have happened, but we can and must do more.

“We need more leadership and forward thinking in the areas of strategic planning, more thinking in action on what we want this university to look like not tomorrow or the next 48 hours, but the next six to 10. years, and in the future. Not only that, but how do you get there?

“I think we need more critical thinking and idea generation from the president’s office,” added Young, who is a retired lobbyist from Lansing who was appointed to the board of directors in 2019. “In the area of ​​enrollment, we need more. We need bold action. Falling enrollment is never something we should accept. On the contrary, we should wake up every day to thinking about how we can reverse this trend and grow. ”

Young added that better communication is needed between the next school president and the board of directors, as well as more leadership in fundraising and capital improvements.

NMU’s enrollment was 8,781 students in the fall of 2014 when Erickson’s term began. Enrollment fell to 7,214 students this fall.

Erickson’s contract was due to expire in 2023. He earns $ 392,000 a year, he said. He said he will take a year off and receive his presidential salary according to his contract. He will return to college in the fall of 2022 and earn $ 285,000, he said. He holds a degree in psychology and education.

He and his 42-year-old wife Jan will be moving from the President’s home on campus to their retirement home in Shag Lake, near Gwinn. He plans to get into bass fishing, he added.

Ericson,originally from Kalamazoo, was rector and vice-president of Ferris State University before moving to NMU. He has also worked at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Eastern Washington University and Michigan University of Technology.

Prior to becoming a higher education administrator, Erickson was a professor at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. He has also been an elementary and middle school teacher and worked for the Colorado Department of Education as an advisor to school districts on how to implement computer technology in schools and programs, according to NMU.

He was appointed to the executive committee of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation by the government of the day. Rick Snyder.

Associated Press contributed.

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