Published: March 21, 2008 03:17 pm         

Barbour confident 4 College Board nominees will be confirmed

JACKSON, Miss. — Gov. Haley Barbour says he chose his four new College Board nominees based on their ability to work confidently with large sums of money and to oversee an eight-university system that affects tens of thousands of Mississippians.

“I believe these four appointees would qualify to serve on the board of any Fortune 500 corporation in the United States,” Republican Barbour said as he introduced them Thursday at a news conference in his office.

Barbour said he believes the nominees will be confirmed by the state Senate to serve 10-year terms on the 12-member board. They are:

— Alan W. Perry, 60, of Jackson, an attorney who has an undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi and finished first in his law school graduating class at Harvard University.

— Christy Pickering, 47, of Biloxi, a certified public accountant who is an alumna of the University of Southern Mississippi — and no relation, she said, to U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering or state Auditor Stacey Pickering.

— Dr. Douglas W. Rouse, 57, of Hattiesburg, who has an undergraduate degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a medical degree from the University of Mississippi.

— C.D. Smith Jr., 55, of Meridian, a Mississippi State University alumnus who is a regional manager for AT&T and currently serves on the board of Meridian Community College.

Republican Doug Davis of Hernando, chairman of the Senate Universities and Colleges Committee, said he is impressed with the nominees.

“All are outstanding, active alumni, based on what I’ve heard today, and I think that’s important. And they are successful professionals,” Davis said.

If confirmed, the new members will join the College Board as it seeks a new president for Mississippi State University. All of the nominees said that throughout their time on the board, they will focus on what’s best for all eight universities.

“What I would hope is that we as a board can work to better all of the universities and colleges in the state, that we would consider the big picture always when we make our decisions,” Pickering said.

State law says four College Board members are chosen from each of the three state Supreme Court districts. In this round of appointments, the governor had to choose two people from the central district, Perry and Smith; and two from the southern district, Pickering and Rouse.

College Board members previously served 12-year terms, but lawmakers shortened the terms starting in 2004.

Governors are required to consider geographic diversity on the board, but they frequently consider other factors such as race, gender and university affiliations.

Although Barbour did not mention the demographics of the group, his appointees fit into the same categories of the people they would replace. There are two white men, Perry and Rouse; one black man, Smith; and one white woman, Pickering.

If all the new nominees are appointed, six of the eight universities will have graduates on the board; only Alcorn State University and Mississippi University for Women will not.

Three of the four College Board members whose terms expire May 12 were appointed for 12-year terms by then-Gov. Kirk Fordice, a Republican; one departing member is filling the final years of a term started by a Fordice appointee.

Fordice originally chose four white men 12 years ago, and a Senate committee blocked those nominations amid criticism that the board would be left with little diversity. After that, Fordice appointed two white men, one black man and one white woman.

Those leaving the board next month are:

— Thomas Colbert of Jackson, a University of Mississippi alumnus appointed by Fordice.

— Roy Estess of Carriere, a Mississippi State University alumnus appointed by Barbour in January 2006 to fill the unexpired term of Fordice appointee Roy Klumb of Gulfport.

— Dr. D.E. Magee Jr. of Jackson, who received his college degrees out of state and was appointed by Fordice.

— Virginia Shanteau Newton, an alumna of Mississippi University for Women and the University of Southern Mississippi, who was appointed by Fordice.

On the Net:

Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning: http://www.mississippi.edu