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Officials at Other Universities Speak Out

[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.]

"We have some concerns with faculty retention as it is, with salaries relatively low," said Carolyn Jones, dean of the College of Law. "In this unsettled situation, faculty may feel that their opinions are not respected."

Jones' comments were echoed by other deans who met with regents and interim U of I President Gary Fethke on Dec. 1, said Regent Bob Downer of Iowa City. The deans want the Iowa Board of Regents, which is charged with hiring a president, to hurry and relaunch the process so a new leader can be named by summer.

The U of I has been in tumult since Nov. 17, when the regents voted 6-2 to reject four presidential finalists. The move outraged U of I faculty, staff and student groups, which have since overwhelmingly approved resolutions of no confidence in the regents leadership.

The regents will hold a conference call Monday to discuss the process for the new presidential search. The meeting will be public.

The U of I's deans, who lead 11 colleges within the university, sent a letter last week to Fethke, stating that the regents should begin an "immediate and intensive search" for a new president. Fethke was to send the letter to the regents and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

The deans' three suggestions are to:

- Begin an immediate and intensive search for an outstanding president to lead the university and to serve Iowa and to be a Big 10 leader.

- Appoint an entirely new search committee of manageable size consisting of university community leaders and chaired by a respected senior faculty member.

- Articulate a clear search process for the university community with the goal of a presidential appointment by July 1, 2007.

The size and makeup of the search committee, which interviews presidential candidates and chooses finalists, has been hotly debated as groups vie for influence. Tom Bedell, who resigned last week from the board, said the power struggles were interrupting the board's mission.

Jones said the deans' intention was to include themselves in "senior faculty" who could be considered to lead the search. Regents President Michael Gartner said deans and donors should play primary roles in the search committee.

"My own belief is it should be a small committee and probably headed by a dean," Gartner said on the television program "Iowa Press" last week. "The deans are the men and women who are entrusted with the day-to-day management of the academic aspect of the institution."

The university president must also be a good fundraiser, Gartner said, so donors should be on the search committee.

The president "has to deal daily, almost hourly, with raising money, so it has to be somebody who is not only acceptable to the deans, it has to be somebody who can raise money, and the best people who can judge that are the people who give money," Gartner said.

Faculty leaders want one of their own to lead the group. This had long been the tradition before the failed search, which was led by Regent Teresa Wahlert.

"It's critically important it be someone who enjoys the confidence of the entire university and has, or can gain, the confidence of the whole board," said Steve Collins, a U of I engineering professor. "Credibility is the name of the game."

The regents will likely have a smaller role on the next search committee.

The 18-member committee that chose the four finalists in the last search had four regents, but board members now say one regent may be enough.

"I do want the process to operate pretty independently (from the regents)," said Regent Amir Arbisser of Davenport.

Arbisser said he would like a search committee of 10-12 people who would decide whether to hold on-campus interviews. This was a sticking point with the last search committee. Regents leaders said early on there would be on-campus interviews, but started to pull back as top candidates wanted their names to remain secret.

Regent Mary Ellen Becker of Oskaloosa said last week she would eliminate on-campus interviews - long a tradition in Iowa - if it meant getting a better president.

- ISU Faculty Senate President Gregory Palermo wrote a letter Wednesday to Regents Executive Director Gary Steinke reaffirming ISU's position that the initial phases of presidential searches be led by faculty.

"That engagement is the first step for a potential president to develop rapport with the university community," Palermo wrote in the letter. "The ISU Faculty Senate endorsed forwarding the policy to you as the regents prepare to design the process for reopening the (U of I) search."

- The UNI Faculty Senate has not released any formal comment on the U of I's failed search, but Cynthia Herndon, the group's president, said that may be coming at the start of the spring semester. "We're looking to make some sort of statement in support of the faculty at the University of Iowa," she said.

Many people at UNI feel "lucky" to have conducted a successful presidential search last spring, Herndon said. The search that ended with the hiring of Ben Allen included faculty co-chairmen of a 13-member search committee and public, on-campus interviews with three finalists.