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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.]

The surprising decision was harshly criticized by some members of the screening committee the regents selected to winnow the field of candidates the consultant provided.

One regent called Friday's decision "inexplicable."

During a brief public meeting that was conducted by telephone there was no discussion by the regents about the field of candidates, the finalists, or any concerns about the qualifications of the finalists.

Instead, the regents rejected the slate of candidates and disbanded the search committee on a 6-2 vote.

The public meeting lasted only a few minutes.

Afterward, the regents' staff issued a written statement of explanation. Regents President Michael Gartner said in the statement, "... in the end the regents felt that while these candidates were wonderfully accomplished people, the regents needed candidates who had more experience as leaders who oversaw complex health sciences operations as well as the myriad of other academic and nonacademic operations of a large university."

But members of the search committee said they were not told before Friday that health sciences experience should outweigh other qualifications.

"I was stunned," said U of I Professor Salome Raheim, a committee member. "I had heard no discussion that prepared me for the emphasis or concern that health science experience was lacking."

The process of choosing a new president has been embroiled in controversy, ranging from concerns over a regent chairing the search committee, to the lack of on-campus interviews with the finalists, to the secrecy surrounding the search process.

Committee 'at a loss' on what to do now

More than two dozen faculty, staff and students gathered at Jessup Hall on the U of I Pentacrest to listen to the regents' meeting Friday. Many expected the regents to name a successor to David Skorton, a physician and popular member of the U of I faculty and administration for 26 years who left in June to become president of Cornell University in New York.

Reaction to the regents' decision came swiftly and emotionally from some members of the screening committee. Some members said the decision represented a "betrayal" of the committee's work.

Heads of faculty and staff groups said they plan to take votes of no confidence in the Board of Regents.

"The regents are failing the University of Iowa and the citizens of Iowa," said Mary Greer, a representative of the University of Iowa Staff Council who served on the screening committee.

Another screening committee member, Peter McElligott, who is president of the U of I Student Government, said, "It's an insult to us and the candidates we have looked at. We're at a loss at how to continue."

The screening committee was chaired by Regent Teresa Wahlert of West Des Moines. Another regent on the screening committee, Amir Arbisser of Davenport, made the motion to discard the finalists and start a new search.

Regents did not say during their telephone meeting whether a new search committee will be formed or whether they already have someone in mind for the president's job.

The written statement issued by the regents staff said all regents on the screening committee - Arbisser, Gartner, Wahlert and Ruth Harkin of Cumming - concurred in the decision to seek new candidates with broader experience.

The statement quoted Gartner as saying the University of Iowa has "many, many areas of greatness, and one clearly is the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and the board wants to ensure that we have strong leadership to build on that greatness."

When asked to elaborate after the meeting, Gartner said the statement "says everything that we intend to say."

Regent says vote was 'inexplicable'

The emphasis on experience in health sciences surprised Greer, the U of I staff member who served on the screening committee.

Greer said the screening committee kept health sciences experience in mind when considering candidates. "In fact, we were advised at one point that we were looking too hard at candidates with a medical background," Greer said.

Greer said that warning came from Wahlert, the regent who chaired the screening committee.

The U of I presidency attracted about 150 candidates. The field was narrowed to seven who were interviewed last Friday and Saturday in Des Moines by members of the screening committee and the nine members of the Board of Regents.

The names of four of those candidates then were forwarded to the regents for their final selection.

Neither the regents, nor the search committee, has identified who the four finalists were. But The Des Moines Register learned that the four all work now at major, well-known universities - one as president and the other three as provosts. Health sciences are an integral part of the three provosts' universities.

Members of the screening committee said that at no point in candidate discussions was it said that experience with health sciences needed to outweigh other qualifications.

Regent Robert Downer of Iowa City took part in those interviews and was comfortable with the four finalists the screening committee selected.

Downer said he did not know what caused the abrupt about-face by other regents Friday. He was one of two regents to vote against discarding the candidates and starting over.

"This is particularly inexplicable in light of the fact that my principal responsibility on the board is as the chair of the hospital committee," Downer said.

He said he did not think Gartner's explanation of needing more health sciences experience was a justifiable reason for scrapping the search.

No timetable set for second search

Katherine Tachau, a U of I professor who served on the screening committee, told the Daily Iowan, "I would speculate Michael Gartner did not get his candidate forwarded by the committee."

Arbisser, the regent from Davenport who was on the screening committee, said he was initially comfortable with the finalists, but as days passed, he reconsidered.

"Once people stepped back from that, the perspective changes," he said.

When asked whether another candidate - such as U.S. Rep. Jim Leach - emerged who was not among the finalists Wahlert simply said "no."

The regents set no timetable for conducting a second search. The regents said Gary Fethke will remain interim president until a new president is hired and installed.

In spite of the decision Friday to reopen the U of I search, Downer, the regent from Iowa City, said he believes Heidrick & Struggles, the consulting firm the regents hired, has completed all of the work it agreed to do for $110,000.

That would mean the regents would have to negotiate an additional payment to the company, find a new recruiting company, or handle the recruitment process without an outside consultant.