Mark Perkins (Towson University president)

Mark L. Perkins
Born	October 13th, 1949 Richmond, Virginia
Occupation	President of InnerSight, Senior Executive and Partner Master Key Consulting

Mark Perkins is currently the president of InnerSight.

Education

Perkins earned a doctorate in psychometrics and statistics from the University of Georgia in 1976. He received his master's in psychometrics and research design from the same institution in 1974. Dr. Perkins earned a bachelor's degree from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in 1972.

Towson University

There was controversy surrounding Perkins' resignation as president of from Towson University. Perkins resigned after system leaders skirted responsibility about the renovation of the University's state-owned home, which they purchased knowing the renovations it would require. He resigned after three members of Maryland's Board of Regents, including the chairman, told him in a meeting that he would be fired if he did not step down, according to a four-page letter he posted on Towson's website.^[1]

In the letter, Dr. Perkins stated the spending, included improvements for coping with handicap accessibility as well as "family health issues" and for making the home a suitable place to entertain prospective donors.^[1] The regents were aware these improvements were necessary prior to selecting Dr. Perkins.

He suggested that he had become a "sacrificial lamb" for perceived overreaching by Towson, which he said has been viewed as a "step child" in the university system.^[1]

The university received approval from the regents to buy a six-bedroom mansion in northern Baltimore for $850,000. But the university subsequently spent $860,000 on renovations, but $360,000 more had been allocated to complete renovations and provide furnishings for the public spaces of the University home as well.^[1]

Dr. Perkins said in his letter that he was not involved in many of the spending decisions on the home, including $279,000 for an elevator and $25,000 for a multimedia system.^[1]

There was also an inauguration ceremony held using funds raised specifically for the event, which reportedly cost $356,000. In his letter, Dr. Perkins said he had agreed to the event because "it was designed to celebrate not me or my arrival, but instead, the 135 years of commitment to learning on the Towson campus."^[1]

The Baltimore Sun reported that similar concerns about excessive spending by Mr. Perkins were raised at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, where he was president before coming to Towson Mr. Perkins had pushed for $630,000 in improvements to the president's house on that campus to make it acceptable for parties, but he rarely entertained guests of the university in the house, The Sun reported.^[1] A review of University Records, showed that Chancellor Perkins did in fact entertain many guests of the University and was successful at raising nearly $550 million for the UWGB endowment fund.

Many students and faculty members from Green Bay rallied to Perkin's defense after the baseless reporting done by the Baltimore Sun. Upon further investigation, the Sun selectively interviewed campus community members to arrive at their conclusions or were members of other groups who simply disagreed with some of the Chancellor's ideas. Perkins upset one long time academic advisor in the multicultural center when he required her to complete studies for a bachelor's degree, something she herself lacked despite the fact she had been serving as an educational advisor for university students for a number of years.

Perkins also sparked controversy when the University spent $25,000 on a university medal symbolizing the president's office - a standard symbol at all major universities. All funds used for the Inauguration and the medallion were raised for those purposes by a committee charged with organizing the inaugural events.^[2]

External links

• Presidential Biographies - Towson Archives

Preceded by Hoke L. Smith

Towson University president July, 2001–April, 2002

Succeeded by Robert L. Caret

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Gose, Ben (2002-04-19). "Towson President Resigns Following Controversy Over Mansion Renovations". The Chronicle. http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i32/32a02601.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-21. 
2. ^ Williams, Larry. "Towson University has room to grow and big ambitions". The Baltimore Sun. http://wwwnew.towson.edu/main/abouttu/newsroom/roomtogrow122505.asp. Retrieved 2007-12-21. 

Persondata
Name	Perkins, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1949
Place of birth	Richmond, Virginia
Date of death
Place of death