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[Note: This material is copyright by the Des Moines Register, 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 Des Moines Register.]

If the people of Iowa had a vote, they would probably express a lack of confidence in both the regents and the U of I faculty. It is fair to say that the regents ran roughshod over the faculty and the public in searching for a new U of I president. It is also fair to say that members of the faculty overplayed their hand by seeming to insist they be allowed to appoint their own boss.

It's beginning to look more and more like a quarreling couple desperately in need of marriage counseling. The situation cries out for a voice of reason who could rise above the escalating vitriol, but that is unlikely. The outgoing governor appears to have distanced himself from the situation, and the incoming governor has no constitutional standing to get involved at this point.

The regents are scheduled to hold a conference call today to talk about the next phase of the search.

The best thing they could do would be to take a breather. Officially put the search on hold, let tempers cool and sort out where to go from here next year.

To do otherwise in the current environment has the potential to do lasting damage to both the institution and to the body appointed to govern it. The waters have been poisoned enough already. Whatever harm there might be in leaving the university without a permanent president would be outweighed by charging ahead with a presidential search without calmly thinking through how to conduct it properly. Iowa can't afford another failure in the search process.

After perhaps a few weeks, with cooler passions and a new governor in place, the regents should restart the search with the clear understanding that it is their job to pick the president, albeit in consultation with the university community, and that the process will be open to the public.

The regents should outline, from the beginning, how the process will be conducted and build in assurances that it will be public. It's unlikely they're ready to do that today.

The members of the Iowa Board of Regents and the university community alike obviously want what's best for the institution. Both sides should keep that in mind when the presidential search is put back on track.