Barbara Jean Morris

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Barbara Jean Morris is an American academic administrator who formerly served as the 8th president of State University of New York College at Oneonta.

Education[]

Barbara Jean Morris completed a B.A. in political science at San Diego State University. Morris earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.^[1]

Career[]

For 16 years, Morris worked at the University of Redlands, most recently as dean of the college of arts and sciences. In 2011, Morris became provost and vice president for academic affairs at Fort Lewis College and she was the elected representative from the academic council to serve on the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.^[1]

On July 1, 2018, Morris succeeded Nancy Kleniewski as the 8th president of the State University of New York at Oneonta. She is the second woman to serve in this role at SUNY Oneonta.^[2] During her tenure at SUNY Oneonta, Morris led the reimagining of the college’s mission statement: We nurture a community where students grow intellectually, strive socially, and live purposefully.^[3] Morris also created the first Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with United University Professionals (UUP) in New York State, acknowledging the importance of adjunct teaching faculty giving the title and salary increase.^[4] She also collaborated with UUP to create uniform tenure and renewal policy and guidelines.^[5] Morris worked toward inclusion of all including students, administrators, faculty, staff, and brought into leadership people of different races, ethnicity, sex, marital status, and more. She broadened governance representation on the president’s cabinet and reformulated the Budget Committee to give it more influence and added more faculty voices. She provided students with a voice in decision-making including giving the Student Association a seat on Cabinet and the Budget Committee.^[6] Morris also created a campus police task force at SUNY Oneonta to explore the relationship of the college's police department with students, staff, faculty and the community.^[7]

In October 2020, Morris was forced to resign from SUNY Oneonta under criticism that her administration mishandled planning for students to return to campus during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8] The university had a coronavirus outbreak that infected more than 740 students in the weeks after reopening.

Works and publications[]

Morris co-authored the manuscript, Recreating the Circle, which was published with The University of New Mexico Press. This book is a collaboration centering on the relationship between tribal, state, federal, and local governments.^[9] In addition, her co-authored article “Faith and Sex: Presidents under Pressure: Electoral Coalitions and Strategic Presidents” looks at the Executive Office of the President and women’s and religious interest groups. Organizational theory, leadership practices, and strategies for cooperation all inform her research.^[10] Her co-authored article “Feminist Organizational Structure in the White House: The Office of Women’s Initiatives and Outreach,” investigates how organizational cultures impact leadership styles has helped her to recognize the importance of identifying organizational cultures in the practice of leadership.^[11]

Personal life[]

Morris' father, Bobby Morris, is Cherokee and Comanche.^[12] She has 3 children.^[2] In July 2019, she climbed to Mount Kilimanjaro.^[13]

See also[]

• List of women presidents or chancellors of co-ed colleges and universities

References[]