Return to Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site

Return to Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
 
 

[Note: This material is copyright by the Press-Citizen, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.]

Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, said the controversy over the search for a new president for the University of Iowa shows there is a lack of leadership on the board.

"We need new ideas," Zaun said.

The regents voted 6-2 in November to reject four finalists for the post, to dissolve the 18-member search committee and start the process from scratch.

The action enraged faculty, staff and students, with all three groups approving no-confidence votes aimed at board president Michael Gartner and Teresa Wahlert, the board's president pro tem who chaired the search committee.

Campus officials criticized the board's handling of the search, the level of secrecy involved and its resistance to holding public, on-campus interviews of candidates.

Zaun asked Gov. Chet Culver to call for the resignation of every regent, listing what he said were excessive costs and miscues in the presidential search, including bills for airfare, hotels and catering.

The university has been looking for a new president since David Skorton left last summer to become president at Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y.

Zaun said starting with a clean slate on the board would give Culver the chance to appoint members who share the concerns of everyday Iowans, rather than political insiders.

Culver will appoint four members of the nine-member board this year. He will fill three positions held by members whose terms will expire and fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Tom Bedell.

Culver said last month that he doesn't plan to seek any resignations from members whose terms aren't expiring.

Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, disagrees that all regents should resign, saying they just need a more time to find the right candidate.

"I think this lynch-mob mentality has gone a little too far," Dotzler said.