There was indeed some troubling news coming off the campus of UMass-Boston this week.

The student newspaper Mass Media broke the story that the search committee reviewing applicants for the permanent Chancellor position is nearing completion, and Interim Chancellor Keith Motley is said to not be among the finalists.

The committee has been meeting since last summer, performing the proverbial "nationwide search" for a successor to JoAnn Gora, who left last year. UMass president Jack Wilson had the great good wisdom to appoint Dr. Motley as Chancellor on an interim basis, and much to the delight of many on-campus employees and students, he has brought a breath of fresh air to the campus. Even better, Motley has done near-miraculous work mending and improving the long-strained relationship between UMass and its neighbors.

Until his appointment, Dorchester community residents felt under siege by the University. The longtime "town and gown" problems were enormous, made only worse by the university's declared intention to build dormitories. In less than a year, acting Chancellor Motley has worked hard to repair the damage, to the point now that there's a growing sense that UMass has become a welcome good neighbor.

So the reports that the search committee, headed by an executive search firm out of Alexandria, Virginia, may not include Motley on its list of finalists for the job is quite perplexing; in fact, it's downright frightening.

The final choice will be left to President Wilson, but the process mandates that he choose from those recommended by the committee. The group is composed of 22 people, only six of whom sit on the UMass board, so it is possible the committee just doesn't understand the issues involving the university's decades-long conflict with its neighbors.

The members are: Kristine Alster, Mark Atkins, Dennis Austin, Lawrence Boyle, Robert Chen, Natalie Crawford Smith, Patricia Flaherty, Heriberto Flores, Terrence Gomes, Robert J. Haynes, Robert Johnson, Thomas Keady, Michael B. Keating, William Kennedy, Winston Langley, Regina McCarthy, Denise Patmon, Tuan Pham, Stacey Rainey, Robert Sheridan, Mary Stevenson, Manickam Sugumaran.

The committee's initial statement stated, "The members of the search committee will work with search consultant Shelly Storbeck of A.T. Kearney to explore the current state of the campus, as well as the related concerns and aspirations of the community."

For an urban campus like UMass-Boston, its community is not limited to faculty, students and others on-campus, but includes its impact on nearby neighborhoods in Dorchester, Mattapan, Roxbury and South Boston.

Here's a note to the committee members: Chancellor Motley has been about building one community, of students, of faculty, of employees and of neighbors. His work has just begun; he deserves to be considered for the permanent position.

- Ed Forry