I feel sorry for the taxpayers (victims) in Arkansas that will be subjected to Rahm's crude shenanigans.We have been taken to the cleaners by this parasite and now it is someone else's turn.
There will be a vote Tuesday on appointing Medical College of Georgia President Daniel W. Rahn as the leader of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, but Dr. Rahn sounded at times Friday like a man who is already gone.
The university's board of trustees will meet at 2 p.m. to vote on President B. Alan Sugg's recommendation to make Dr. Rahn the medical school's chancellor, which is essentially the same as president.
Dr. Rahn said he would accept the position if it is offered.
"I'm just very excited about it. I think it is an excellent institution," he said. "Everyone I met on my trip out there as the finalist is really genuine, open, collaborative, really focused on the work of the institution. There really is terrific public and private engagement in the institution. I think it is poised for significant advancements really in all components of its mission."
University System of Georgia Chancellor Erroll B. Davis sounded resigned to losing Dr. Rahn.
"It's certainly always disappointing when someone of the caliber of Dr. Rahn leaves," he said. "But it's also a fact of life in academia that people do leave."
Dr. Rahn has been president of MCG since 2001 and has attracted controversy in the past few years.
A plan to expand medical education in Georgia includes a branch of MCG's School of Medicine in Athens in conjunction with the University of Georgia, a move that angered many in Augusta who see it as a step toward moving MCG. And last year there was a messy split with the school's foundation over its "lack of alignment" with the school's goals, notably turning down a $5 million request from Dr. Rahn to help build a new building for the School of Dentistry.
Asked whether any events in recent years had shaped his decision, Dr. Rahn said flatly, "No."
He did admit "there are always opportunities and challenges. I'm not naïve. There will be challenges in Little Rock. I know what they are here more clearly than in a new position. But I'm not looking at this through a lens of negativity."
He described the Arkansas job as "a great opportunity" for which he is well-suited.
"I think that there is a good alignment between my skills and experience and the focus of the institution and the work ahead," he said.
As he did when it was announced last month that he was a finalist, Dr. Rahn took pains to praise MCG and Augusta.
"(MCG) is a great place and I think it is also positioned for great things in the future," he said. "But we're also open to a change at this juncture."
If the vote goes through Tuesday, Dr. Rahn said he would begin meeting with Mr. Davis early next week to begin planning. He wants to stay at least through an evaluation of the Athens campus in April and the finalizing of funding and contracts for the new dental school building, which should be in the next few months.
"They have agreed to be flexible with regard to a start date," Dr. Rahn said. "Anytime after July 1 through mid-fall I've been told could work very well."
Mr. Davis, who has recruited replacements for the presidents of Georgia Tech and Georgia State University in recent months, expressed confidence in finding a good replacement for Dr. Rahn.
"I have no doubt that we'll be able to attract a high-quality person to this job as well," he said. Both Mr. Davis and Dr. Rahn said the transition wouldn't derail the Athens initiative. Mr. Davis also ruled out bringing MCG under UGA's auspices, a fear that arose in Augusta the last time MCG needed to replace a president.
Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
I feel sorry for the taxpayers (victims) in Arkansas that will be subjected to Rahm's crude shenanigans.We have been taken to the cleaners by this parasite and now it is someone else's turn.
Too bad he didn't head that way before he started plotting with Michael Adams in secret to create a new medical school in Athens. He creates it and leaves it to us to worry about paying for.
Dr. Rahn has always been a sketchy character to me. From my days at MCG (late 1990s) he seemed like a man that just couldn't be trusted. It's a shame that he has now created a mess for MCG. I hope that the folks in Arkansas have better luck with him at the helm than we did here. In my opinion, his presidency at MCG lasted way too long.
We need to ensure he is done here even if Arkansas turns him down. Since he is openly wanting to go there, let's openly ask him to leave...fast.
His collaboration with Athens-Atlanta opportunists has damaged the medical industry in the Augusta community to such a degree that it will take hard work for decades to repair, if ever. We must begin to elect leaders who will dedicate themselves to overcome Rahn's devastating effect.
You know, after 5 years at the college, I have to say that I have nothing but respect for Dr. Rahn. And it seems that most people there do as well. He has done a fantastic job at leading us through some difficult years in which budgets were being cut left and right. He helped to draw in some major talent and really move the institution forward. I'll be very disappointed to see him go, especially during the time where we really need his leadership. I wish him and his family well.
And I wish the rest of you wouldn't slander a man when you obviously know very little about him.
It's amazing to me that there are SO MANY extraordinarily brilliant people with 3rd grade educations who could do so much better leading MCG than its current president. When he's gone, MCG should hire iletuknow or Riverman1 or Debster or thisreallysucks as the next president, because they obviously know exactly how to address the serious difficulties faced in this state. There has never been a real choice about a medical school in Athens. That has been part of the political agenda in this state for a decade or more. The huge shortage of health professionals in recent years and the state falling to the bottom nationally in health care for its citizens was the final stroke to make it happen. This was not MCG's doing. But once that was decided by the politicians in Atlanta and the University system, the only thing left to decide was, will the Athens medical school be controlled by MCG or UGA. If it is controlled by UGA, money would be siphoned off of MCG to support the UGA medical school. If it is controlled by MCG, more money than ever flows into MCG to expand its programs to Athens, Savannah, Albany, Rome, Columbus, etc. So, what was the better choice for Augusta and the state?
Think about how much saavy, smart maneuvering and sheer commitment it took Rahn to keep medical education in the state of Georgia based here in Augusta. And there is a very real threat right now that, if/when Rahn leaves, the powerful UGA system lobbyists and politicians will look at the lack of presidential leadership at MCG as the best excuse for turning over the Athens medical school to UGA control. This will be bad for MCG, bad for Augusta, and bad for the state of Georgia. Everyone should be bombarding their legislators and newspapers with calls for MCG to make a counter offer to keep Rahn here!
There was never a doubt that UGA would eventually take over THEIR medical school. I don't get your logic, DanK. Rahn helps establish another medical school in Athens and we should try to keep him here because he is the only one who can control the monster he created?
He did not create the medical school in Athens. The politicians and UGA lobbyists did. He made the case for having it under the administrative control of MCG rather than UGA, thus funneling the money through Augusta. But now, if he leaves, the politicians and UGA lobbyists will do their best to try to wrest it away from MCG. It would be foolish, but they are not known for their brilliance over there.
Apparently the good folks here in Augusta just don't get it. MCG is going to add some more students locally, but there are limits. The biggest limit is patients in beds -- there just aren't many in Augusta. Students are already doing rotations in Albany and starting to in Savannah. But they are commuting, and that is an added hardship on students that few are willing to accept. So the only way to increase the number of students by big numbers is a branch campus. Other schools around the country are doing this too. University of Arizona main med school is in Tuscon, but they opened a new branch in Phoenix in partnership with Arizona State University. In Athens, once the new campus opens, there will be the MCG Medical School at Athens, the MCG Nursing School which already has 200 students over there, on the same campus with UGA School of Public Health (MCG doesn't have one) and UGA biotechnology departments, etc.
DanK, you and I both know Rahn was as instrumental as Michael Adams and Sonny Perdue. What do you mean by commuting for the students in Savannah and Albany doing clinicals? It is not like they drive it daily. Sheesh. Many of them are from those areas and desire rotations back home. The sole reason given for starting the Athens school was to have more physicians in Georgia. In reality, the way to have more physicians in Georgia is to have more resident training. We all know about Arizona, but look a few miles away in South Carolina for a situation that has been around for a few more years and ask the MUSC folks in Charleston if they are happy with the second medical school at USC in Columbia drawing funds away. There simply isn't enough money for another school in Athens as we will all learn eventually. Rahn's major failure was his inability to forge clinical rotations in the CSRA in addition to being integral to the foolish decision to start another school.
Charles Walker, according to a highly-placed retired faculty member at UGA and friend, was responsible for keeping MCG an entity separate from UGA early in Dr. Adams' presidency when his VP for Academic Affairs (?: if I'm not mistaken) wanted to make it a part of our state's flagship university. My friend said that the restructuring was a "done deal" until Walker stepped in. Let's give credit where it's due.
Charles Walker, according to a highly-placed, retired faculty member at UGA and friend, was responsible for keeping MCG an entity separate from UGA early in Dr. Adams' presidency when his VP for Academic Affairs (?: if I'm not mistaken) wanted to make it a part of our state's flagship university. My friend said that the restructuring was a "done deal" until Walker stepped in. Let's give credit where it's due.
Another careerist moves further on down the road of self-interest. Institutional loyalty is a thing of the past. Having begun the process of MCG expansion to Athens, having begun the process of campus expansion here in Augusta, wouldn't you think Rahn would want to stay and see these things through to their completion? A very strange time to be leaving. I guess everyone has their price. When all is said and done, Rahn is first and foremost a glad handing politician and administrator, rather than an academic or physician. His words about "exciting times" for MCG are really just platitudes.
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