Dear Carl:

For a three year period covering the second half of my tenure as President of the University of Idaho, you were my most valued consultant. You and your staff trained me and members of my administration to deal far more effectively with the Idaho and national media in turbulent times and under challenging circumstances. On issue after issue, you gave me the most incisive assessment of the situation, the wisest advice about managing it to the institution's advantage, and the most effective strategies for dealing the with media as well as other difficult interpersonal encounters.

These are difficult times for university presidents, and Idaho is one of the most tumultuous environments in higher education. Progress is a jagged course forward in a very uncertain and sometimes hostile territory. Your professional guidance and expert assistance helped us plan ahead where we could for positive proactive managment of our communications. This service was a major factor in the progress we made during those years.

In addition to helping the institution and its president get better at communicating plans and events which we could anticipate, you were the principal 'savior' of the day when we were confronted with major challenges and tragic events.

In each of these circumstances and others, our university came out far better off because of your guidance; and each time my colleagues and I gained skills and new understandings we could apply in the next occurrence. Needless to say, these situations were layered on top of an already contentious relationship between some significant and influential figures and the University of Idaho, which made communications managment that much more challenging.

Your wise and quiet counsel behind the scenes was of critical significance in my own instincts to do what I felt was right, albeit difficult, and you always helped me tailor my approaches to do the right things much better than I could have without your good counsel. While you were careful to distinguish between the substance of the policy decisions and managment of communications, you never hesitated to let me engage you as a trusted colleague in my deliberations about both, and I greatly appreciated your perspectives and advice.

Thank you for the role you played in my leadership as President and in my transition. Your expert assistance strengthened a university that is very precious to the people of Idaho and to the nation.

Sincerely,

Elisabeth Zinser
Chancellor