HIGHER ED WORKS: Why bother with a search if outcome is decided?
Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020 -- Why bother with a search if the outcome is predetermined? A proposed change in the rules for chancellor searches that's before the UNC Board of Governors would direct the System President and Board officers to develop a pool of candidates within the UNC System as prospects to become chancellors at UNC institutions. The policy would let the President recommend as many as two candidates in a search for a chancellor at any of the System's 17 campuses. But under the proposal the President's recommended candidate(s) would have to be among the finalists the campus Board of Trustees submits to the President to make a choice:
Posted — UpdatedWhy bother with a search if the outcome is predetermined?
A proposed change in the rules for chancellor searches that’s before the UNC Board of Governors would direct the System President and Board officers to develop a pool of candidates within the UNC System as prospects to become chancellors at UNC institutions.
The policy would let the President recommend as many as two candidates in a search for a chancellor at any of the System’s 17 campuses. Those candidates would have to apply and go through the interview process for the position.
But under the proposal – which the Board of Governors will vote on in September – the President’s recommended candidate(s) would have to be among the finalists the campus Board of Trustees submits to the President to make a choice:
“In any chancellor search, the president shall have the discretion to designate up to two individuals from the president’s succession planning efforts to become candidates upon their submission of complete applications. Candidates designated by the president shall participate in search committee interviews and shall be part of the slate referred by the board of trustees for the president’s consideration in accordance with Part IV of this policy.”
Examples include:
- Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz of UNC-Chapel Hill, a faculty member since 1995 and former Dean and Interim Chancellor at Carolina;
- Chancellor Harold Martin at N.C. A&T State University, who served as a Dean at A&T, Senior Vice President of the UNC System and Chancellor at Winston-Salem State University;
- Chancellor Karrie Dixon of Elizabeth City State University, who served as a senior administrator in the UNC System Office; and
- Chancellor Brian Cole of the UNC School of the Arts, who was a Dean and Interim Chancellor before he was named Chancellor.
But requiring the President’s candidates to be among the finalists submitted by the campus Board of Trustees goes a step too far.
Further, it would stifle applications from external candidates if they think the search is biased toward internal candidates.
North Carolina’s public universities have been blessed with good leadership and can only benefit from the broadest possible pool of applicants.
Some – like recently retired UNC Charlotte Chancellor Phil Dubois and his predecessor Jim Woodward – came from outside the UNC System to lead its most rapidly growing campus. So did current NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson.
The President has the same prerogative. There’s no need to make his or her recommendations a self-fulfilling prophecy – the recommendation alone should send a strong signal.
That would include trustees at the 17 campuses of the UNC System. So let’s have faith in those local leaders – who are primarily appointed by the Board of Governors – and not dictate their choices to them.
Developing a pool of prospects makes good sense. But mandating the choice of finalists is overkill.
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