Iowa City Press Citizen
02/03/06
Regents will wait to pick committee
Board members will visit UI in next month
By Gregg Hennigan
Iowa City Press-Citizen
AMES -- In the face of campus uproar, the Iowa state Board of Regents on
Thursday voted to delay for one month a decision on who should lead the search
to find a new University of Iowa president.
In the meantime, board president Michael Gartner said he and several regents
would travel to UI before its next meeting in March to hear directly from faculty,
staff and students.
Gartner said once all sides hear each other out, there should be agreement that
all involved are looking for the same thing: the best president for UI.
"There's not a great big disconnect here between what the faculty is asking and
what the regents want to do," Gartner said.
Concern on campus comes after some board members have said that regents
likely will be on the UI search committee to find a replacement for President
David Skorton, who announced that he will leave UI on June 30 to take over at
Cornell University in New York.
Traditionally, an outside search firm has worked alongside a search committee
composed of a faculty majority and chaired by a faculty member. Staff, students,
community members and alumni also have been on the committee, while two
representatives of the regents sat as non-voting members.
But for the current search to replace University of Northern Iowa President
Robert Koob, board president Michael Gartner is serving as chairman and three
other regents are on the 13-member search committee. Only two faculty
members are on the committee.
Thursday morning, UI Faculty Senate President Richard LeBlond was given five
minutes to address the board at their meeting on the Iowa State University
campus.
"(A) committee with such limited faculty participation, especially without a faculty
chair, seriously reduces the expertise available to the search and screen
committee," LeBlond told the board.
Speaking to reporters during a break in the meeting, LeBlond said a regent-led
search was "clearly an affront" to the campus. It would also result in a president
"strongly beholden" to constituencies outside the university and could affect
recruitment, he said.
"When you're competing for the very best people, the very best people have
choices," he said.
LeBlond told the board that there are several questions that need to be
answered. Among them was: Have the previous searches been successful? To
which he answered, yes.
As evidence, he noted that the previous four UI presidents, including Skorton,
have left for Ivy League schools and the highly regarded University of Michigan.
"If it ain't broke, why fix it?" LeBlond said.
LeBlond was flanked by UI Staff Council President Michelle Wichman and
Student Government President Mark Kresowik, who were not given time to
speak.
All three governing bodies have passed resolutions this week supporting a
campus-led search. On Wednesday, the ISU Faculty Senate passed a similar
resolution.
UI faculty, staff and student leaders also issued a lengthy joint statement that
stated, in part, that the proposed changes to the search process are a challenge
to the concept of shared governance.
"We know that faculty and staff come to our university and remain here because
they are treated as partners and not mere employees," the statement read.
Kresowik said the regents agreeing to come to UI was a step in the right direction
but communication needs to continue.
"We need them to show good faith in listening to us," he said.
Regent Bob Downer of Iowa City said the meeting at UI, for which a date was not
set, could affect how the regents decide to form the search committee.
"I think we're trying to devise a process that is hopefully going to be as
successful as possible," he said.
The chair of the search committee and its members were scheduled to be
approved by the board at its March meeting. Board executive director Gary
Steinke said he thought that timeline still could be met despite the delay.
Gregg Hennigan can be reached at 339-7360 or ghennigan@press-citizen.com.
Also ran in: Hawk Central, IA