Dawning of a new era:

News broke June 9 that IUP president Tony Atwater would resign from his post after five years in office effective June 30.

The embattled president left his position at IUP to take a national leadership role with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Atwater's resignation came after a vote of no confidence from IUP faculty.

He was widely accused of over spending in many areas and leaving the school in a budget bind.

Twenty-four hours after Atwater handed in his resignation, the Pennsylvania State System for Higher Education Board of Governors, which had the task of appointing an interim president for IUP, came to a decision. And it was a familiar face — Dr. David Werner.

He officially took his post Aug. 1.

Werner, 67, spent time as IUP's interim provost during the 2007-08 academic year.

"It's exciting to be here," Werner said during an interview in his office Aug. 23. "It's a great institution [with] a high quality faculty and staff. The students are interested in learning and that's what a university is all about."

Outside of IUP, Werner spent time as chancellor emeritus at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for seven years.

After retiring from his chancellor position, he spent a semester in Kyoto, Japan as a visiting researcher in human resources and public policy at Ryukoku University.

During the time away from IUP, Werner said that he got rid of all of his IUP merchandise, thinking that he would never have use for it, as he did not expect to come back.

Much to his surprise, he did.

Werner's interim tag cannot turn into a permanent one.

He can not be a candidate for the permanent position, nor does he have a say in who is to take his place.

That is up to the Registry for College and University Presidents, which works with schools to look for eligible candidates for the position.

Even if Werner was eligible for the position, he readily admits that he is just too old for the job.

"I retired once, and this is just filling in until the search is conducted and they hire a permanent person," he said.

Until that search is conducted, Werner assumes all of the regular duties and concerns of a permanent president.

One of the main duties and concerns is figuring out the budget for next year.

It is "first priority," said Werner.

According to Werner, this year's budget includes a "significant" amount of money that came from the federal stimulus package, which ends after this school year.

IUP will have to make up the loss, taking into account the uncertainty of state funding and the ever-increasing cost of yearly operation.

The previous budget situation was handed to Werner from the previous administration — something he said he didn't keep that much of an eye on after he left IUP.

"After I left here, I would occasionally hear from people that I worked with closely, but I didn't monitor the student newspaper or the Indiana Gazette," Werner said.

As far as the decisions that were made by Atwater, Werner did not have too much of an opinion, as he said he didn't know enough about the situation and is still learning about things.

"Sometimes you think you understand something and then you discover that you don't understand it as much as you thought, so a lot it is just learning," Werner said.

"I think it's really, really important to understand the history of problems and situations, because if you don't understand the history you're more than likely going to do something stupid."

But Werner did know about was the residential revival and the construction of the KCAC, both of which he was impressed with.

"It looks dramatically different from what it did even two years ago," Werner said.

"You can't help but be impressed by the change that has occurred even in the short period of time," Werner said.

Other than that, Werner said he doesn't know too much about what was going on during Atwater's

tenure.

Werner also did not know enough to give his thoughts on the relationship between Atwater and the students and faculty — something that was lacking for some time as Atwater was accused of making decisions without consulting  the students or the faculty.

Opening the lines of communication was one of the first things Werner did when he arrived on campus in July.

Werner said he immediately went around town meeting the different leaders in the area in an effort to learn more about the situation at IUP.

"People have been extraordinarily nice," Werner said.

"That was my experience two years ago. Those were the reasons coming back to Indiana was attractive, because people here were very open and very welcoming, so it's been great. It's been fun to get out and meet people."

Was the reception from the town genuine or was the town just happy to see a new person in charge of the school?

Werner said he believes that the community was genuinely interested in what is going to happen in the coming months and years.

"I have no way of knowing that," Werner said. "I just have the sense that the people of Indiana are just open, genuine people and I don't think it has anything to do with that. I think they're just people who like people.

"The people in town see the importance of IUP to the community, so they are very interested to what the university is doing," he added.

The lines of communication are open to the faculty and the students as well. Werner said he plans to hold a monthly open session with the faculty and staff where they can ask him questions.

The first will take place in the beginning of September.

He also wants to plan something similar for students, but is not completely sure what it will entail.