| UM Presidential Search Committee nears decisionAdam Farquhar |
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| Written by Adam Farquhar | |
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After months of searching for an available and suitable candidate for the position of UM system president, it appears the UM Presidential Search Advisory Committee is approaching the point of offering a second candidate the position of UM system president. Following a meeting of the committee on November 19, an anonymous source reported to several news agencies that the purpose of that meeting was to conduct final interviews with the candidate Gary Forsee. Previously the Chief Executive Officer of Sprint-Nextel, Gary Forsee currently serves on the board of trustees for the UMR campus. Forsee also holds degrees from both UMR and the University of Missouri - Columbia. After the advisory committee’s meeting, any determinations made as a result were passed on to the Board of Curators, which will make the final decision. This board met Thursday and Friday, November 29 and 30, but as of yet no decision has been issued. After Elson Floyd resigned from his position as UM system president in April, the Presidential Search Committee was tasked with identifying, interviewing, and recommending candidates for the position to the UM Board of Curators. Members of this committee were selected from those nominated by their peers at the four university system campuses. In order to identify potential candidates for the position, the Board of Curators enlisted the services of executive search consultant Jerry Baker. From the beginning of the search process, Baker has been forwarding his findings to the Presidential Search Advisory Committee for further evaluation. While most potential candidates are selected in this manner, the committee also accepts nominations from persons wishing to become candidates themselves or wishing to bring a particular person to the attention of the committee. According to Scott Charton, more than 300 applicants were determined to be viable candidates at the inception of the search process. During the time between Floyd’s resignation and the acceptance of the position by a candidate, Gordon Lamb accepted the position of interim UM system president. In June, it appeared the Presidential Search Advisory Committee had quickly found a new president in the candidate of Terry Sutter and offered him the position. Sutter declined, however, opting instead for the position of chief operating officer at Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation, a Florida-based steel manufacturing company. After Sutter declined the offer in June, revisions were made to the presidential search process. These revisions included provisions for secondary and tertiary choices of candidates in case the primary choice declined as Sutter did and for a second round of interviews to more precisely identify both candidate interest and suitability for the position. One of the results of these revisions was the complete reconsideration of all candidates, with no additional offers being made to candidates already considered and no preference being given to them in the new search. Though some view Forsee as the best and foremost candidate for the position, many faculty have raised concern over the appropriateness of a business executive as the UM system’s president. At the core of their concern is the idea that there exist fundamental differences in attitude between business and academia. Patricia Brodsky summarizes the essence of the concerns, saying, “The university isn’t a money-making proposition. It is built on a totally different premise and someone who comes from that (corporate) world will have different values.” Yet others point out that such a business-oriented view may be precisely what the university system needs right now in order to increase efficiency without losing services and quality. Others also note that many former businessmen lead public institutions successfully. Yet as Curator Warren Erdman states, “My goal isn’t to bring this to a close. My goal is to find the best person.” Members of both the Presidential Search Committee and UM Board of Curators have made it known that they prefer the final choice to have existing connections to the UM system as Forsee does, but they do not distinguish between backgrounds so long as a person has the ability to lead the university system successfully in the direction it needs to go. Other considerations for the next UM system president made public by the two associations include a respect for the university’s traditional values regarding discipline and integrity among others, a strategic mindset for advancing the university’s mission in the continually changing environment of higher education and the ability to communicate and inspire others to support the university’s mission in diverse environments. |
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