Kevin Rome believes that after serving four years as president of Lincoln University, LU is better now than when he came in 2013.
He said community support has increased, citing two high-profile projects: the new LINC Wellness Center and the Boys & Girls Club's move to the LU campus.
Rome also pointed to improved relations with Lincoln's alumni groups around the country and the increase in students studying abroad as signs Lincoln's reach is being extended.
To a certain extent, Rome hasn't been afraid to shake up the status quo in the first presidency of his career - including canning the LU custodial staff and outsourcing that work to a private company, and reconfiguring student support services like tutoring.
That's led to some discontentment.
As we reported on Sunday, growing faculty disenchantment ultimately led to a September 2016 "no confidence" vote in the work of Said Sewell, the now-former provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, and to the majority of faculty joining the Missouri National Education Association for collective bargaining purposes.
Both of those actions came after Rome's administration last July recommended terminating some music programs and deactivating LU's history degree program, resulting in five teachers losing their jobs at the end of this last semester. A revised history program has been reactivated.
Rome also focused on recruiting efforts in areas that the university hasn't concentrated on previously. But LU's enrollment has slid over the past four years, so we don't see those efforts paying off, at least yet. Some have suggested keeping recruiting efforts closer to home might be a wiser plan, and we tend to agree.
Rome is leaving LU amid state funding cuts, which will be a challenge for the next administration. While Rome has made some cuts, his successor may be forced to make more.
His response to the funding shortfall was to cut teachers and staff, not administrators. Cutting the teaching staff, we believe, will make those recruiting efforts harder, especially when tuition continues to rise.
We concur with his advice to his successor to "focus on faculty relationships coming in," and to "maintain the relationships with the community, because I think that's so critical for the person in this seat to have a great relationship with Jefferson City."
Until one is named, the university will be in the capable hands of Mike Middleton for the interim.
As for Rome, he shook things up, making positive changes amid some miscues. But ultimately, enrollment hasn't grown. Has he sowed the seeds for growth? Time will tell, but until then, we'll give him a grade of "incomplete."