After chancellor was abruptly let go, new leader takes the helm at University of Minnesota Morris

A new chancellor has taken the reins at the University of Minnesota Morris this semester and is celebrating enrollment growth on campus after the abrupt dismissal of its previous leader last fall.

Michael Rodriguez, previously the dean of the U’s College of Education and Human Development at the Twin Cities campus, assumed the role leading the campus in northwestern Minnesota when the semester started Jan. 12.

Rodriguez, a Morris alumnus, replaced Janet Schrunk Ericksen, who left at the end of December and is on a yearlong sabbatical. The western Minnesota campus 150 miles from the Twin Cities has faced declining enrollment in recent years.

Rodriguez said in an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune that he was “really glad the president [Rebecca Cunningham] asked me to take this on.”

“We’re talking more than ever at the University of Minnesota about one university ... with five campuses, and me being in Morris and having come from the Twin Cities is a really important link,” Rodriguez said.

Peh Ng, a Morris math professor, said the transition from Ericksen to Rodriguez is going “swimmingly well” considering that it happened in the middle of the academic year.

The “why” of Ericksen’s departure was an “important question when I got to Morris, as you can imagine,” Rodriguez said.

Sarah Buchanan, a French professor at Morris, said that the day after Ericksen’s departure was announced, Cunningham was on campus for a meeting. Despite being asked about eight times for her rationale for the change, faculty, staff and students didn’t get an answer.

Rodriguez “is a good guy and we have nothing at all against him, but we are angry at how this decision was made with no consultation or explanation,” Buchanan said.

Rodriguez said he didn’t know what went into Cunningham’s decision, but she wouldn’t have named someone who valued Morris so much as chancellor unless she also cared about the place.

Ericksen remains a tenured professor at Morris, Rodriguez said.

Morris, which has a liberal arts focus, has struggled with enrollment in recent years. In 2024, there were just 883 full-time students, compared with a high of twice that number years before.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the campus hard and enrollment was slow to recover, Rodriguez said. There was a “huge lapse” in Morris’ marketing and communications during the pandemic, but funding increased in the last two years, he said. It’s resulted in increased website traffic, with applications up 30% last fall.

“I think we’ve somehow fallen off the radar,” he said. “For a long time, people used to say it’s like one of the University of Minnesota’s biggest secrets, [but] we can’t be a secret. That’s not sustainable.”

A U spokesperson said Morris’ marketing office was down to two people during the pandemic and they were “largely consumed by the campus’ huge communications needs during that time.” A campaign called “More is Morris” began under Ericksen.

About 275 freshmen enrolled in fall 2025 and 87% are still there now, U officials said, a typical rate of returning students.

Josh Johnson, a Morris English professor, said there’s been lots of energy on campus this semester and the enrollment boost is noticeable. Evening events have felt fuller, he said, and there’s evidence of “that rich campus life” that happens when there’s a critical mass of people.

“It’s good news for us,” Ng said.

Rodriguez, a St. Paul native, is a fifth-generation Minnesotan with a strong allegiance to the state, the U and its mission as a land-grant research university, he said.

He’s “is not quite new to some of us,” Ng said, since he’s been a “very engaged alum” for years.

Morris made higher education possible for Rodriguez, a first-generation college student, through a strong financial aid package, he said. While there, he was student body president and started clubs for Latino and Asian students.

“I just found my home at Morris,” he said. “The engagement was incredible for me, and I absolutely attribute my professional success and all that I do right now to the experiences that Morris gave me.”

He’s renting an apartment in town and has found the campus welcoming so far, he said. Residents often ask if he’s the new chancellor when he’s eating out or at the hardware store.

“And then they say, ‘Yeah, I’ve got some thoughts about Morris,’” he said. “Everybody’s got advice.”

The commenters always emphasize how important the school is to them, he said.

That affection is also reflected in Morris’ recent fundraising efforts, he said. As of Jan. 31, the campus is 30% ahead of its five-year average in private giving, putting it on pace to beat its all-time fundraising record.