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 Gazette, 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 Gazette.]

  ‘‘At the end, it was very much a concern on my part,’’ UI Professor Katherine Tachau, a committee vice chairwoman, said. ‘‘It struck me that it raised potential conflicts of interest.’’

  The state Board of Regents hired the firm Heidrick & Struggles to assist in the search for a successor to David Skorton, who left the UI in June to become president at Cornell University.

  The regents voted 6-2 Friday to scrap the search and start anew, saying none of the four candidates recommended to the board had the breadth of experience they sought.

  The four candidates included one sitting president and three provosts, committee members have said.

  The UI will pay Heidrick & Struggles at least $110,000 even if the firm is not used for the second search. The regents’ contract with the firm states that payment of the retainer fee, expenses and other costs is not contingent upon hiring one of the firm’s suggested candidates. None of the four finalists was recommended by the firm. The contract also states Heidrick & Struggles would be paid for each additional administrator aside from the president hired as a result of the search. A message to Heidrick & Struggles seeking comment was not immediately returned this week.

  Search committee member Mary Greer, president of the UI Staff Council, said the search firm consultant urged committee members to hurry near the end, often mentioning that Ohio State, Indiana University and Purdue University are searching for presidents. Once committee members learned Heidrick & Struggles also represented Ohio State ‘‘it became clear to us that it could perhaps pose a problem,’’ Greer said.

  But a firm representative explained to the search committee that while there could be some overlap in candidates, the Ohio State search would involve a slightly different pool, as that university is looking only at sitting presidents, UI Professor Steve McGuire, a committee member, said.

  It’s not uncommon in the limited world of major firms involved in higher education searches to have a firm representing similar universities at the same time, said Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, which has offices in San Jose, Calif., and Washington.

  ‘‘There tends to be great overlap in the pool of people, whether it’s one search firm or two different search firms,’’ Callan said. ‘‘I don’t think there’s any inherent conflict of interest, but that is sort of the downside to hiring a firm.’’

  Callan said Heidrick & Struggles has a good track record.

  Friday’s abrupt regents vote, as well as the manner in which some of the closed meetings were held, has drawn fire from UI faculty, staff and students. Campus-based search committee members have said a lack of respect was shown toward committee members by Regent Teresa Wahlert, who led the search, and Regents President Michael Gartner, also on the committee.

  Members say requests to vote on issues were denied, e-mails and phone calls to Wahlert by the two vice chairs were ignored in the last weeks of the search and there was an air of intimidation. ‘‘It was run unlike any committee I have ever been associated with,’’ Greer said. ‘‘It was pretty uncomfortable.’’

  One candidate among the seven interviewed but who was not included in the list of four was Deborah Freund, former vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost at Syracuse University, several people involved with the search said. Freund could not be reached for comment.