Which Florida universities are searching for presidents? FIU to become ‘new user’ of privacy law
Miami Dade’s Florida International University joined three other public universities Tuesday when it launched a national search for a new president.
Here’s what’s happening at each school and how a new state law will affect the searches:
Florida International University
The FIU presidential search committee met Tuesday for the first time and will gather again at 3 p.m. April 25. Richard Olson, the director of Extreme Events Research, and Eric Eikenberg, a political and environmental policy expert who heads the Everglades Foundation, are some of the committee members.
FIU hired R. William Funk and Associates, a Dallas-based company that specializes in higher education recruitment.
Anyone can attend a listening session from 10 a.m. to noon next Wednesday at the Graham University Center on the FIU Modesto A. Maidique Campus.
READ MORE: FIU launches national search for its new president, Mark Rosenberg’s permanent successor
New privacy law will affect candidates
Florida lawmakers recently approved Senate Bill 520, with its companion bill House Bill 703, to maintain confidential the names and other identifying facts of applicants for a state university presidency. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law in March.
At the first meeting of the FIU presidential search committee Tuesday, FIU General Counsel Carlos Castillo told committee members the information would become public once the committee pushes through two or more candidates to the full board of trustees. At that point, a 21-day period would begin before the board issues final decisions.
Critics of the new statute say it could further politicize academia.
William Funk, head of the search firm contracted by FIU, told the university’s board of trustees he expects the law to benefit the applicant pool process.
“We’re kind of the first users of the new law relative to the Sunshine laws governing presidential searches, so we’re going through that together,” he said. “We think that will be certainly a breakthrough because we find the very best candidates are often the most reluctant to go public about their candidacy.”
University of Florida
University of Florida President Kent Fuchs announced Jan. 5 he would leave his post by the end of 2022, his eighth year at the helm of the school in Gainesville.
READ MORE: Amid tensions with faculty over COVID and academic freedom, UF president to step down
On March 29, UF Board of Trustees Chair Morteza Hosseini appointed the members to the presidential search committee. Members include Laura Rosenbury, dean of the UF Levin College of Law, and Lynda Tealer, the executive associate athletics director.
UF selected SP&A Executive Search, a California company, to lead the initiative.
“Now that the search committee has been named, we will be working with SP&A, the search firm, to develop a timeline that will make sense, with the goal of having a new president by January 2023,” said UF spokesman Steve Orlando.
UF’s independent student newspaper The Independent Florida Alligator confirmed March 15 that UF would abide by the new law, keeping the identities of applicants secret until 21 days before the search concludes.
Paul Ortiz, president of the United Faculty of Florida at UF, criticized the new rules. “Their attempt to try to keep this more secretive is really going to hamper the climate of trust that an incoming president needs,” he told The Alligator.
University of North Florida
University of North Florida President David Szymanski announced in August he would step down from his role Sept. 17 to become the CEO and Executive Director of UNF MedNexus. He served in the position for about three years.
Pamela Chally became interim president Sept. 18. She spent 28 years at UNF, most recently as interim provost and vice president of academic affairs from 2017-19.
The university, in Jacksonville, created its presidential search committee in September. The list of the committee members includes Paul McElroy, the former managing director and CEO of JEA, the local electric, water and wastewater utility, and Ann Hicks, a former president of the UNF Foundation Board
The committee has sent an online survey and held events to seek community input.
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UNF hired WittKieffer, an Illinois-based search firm. During its next meeting Monday, the search committee will review the applicant pool and select at least two. The full board of trustees will interview those finalists by April 21.
The Spinnaker, UNF’s student newspaper, reported March 21 that on that day UNF would start shielding the candidate names, to adhere to the new state law that mandates privacy until the final stage.
“Our hope, on the search committee, is that [this law] will increase the number and quality of candidates for the office of president,” John White, president of the UNF Faculty Association, professor and Board of Trustees member told the Spinnaker then.
UNF will likely advance a candidate for confirmation to the Florida Board of Governors in late June.
Florida Gulf Coast University
Florida Gulf Coast University President Mike Martin announced Dec. 9 he would retire come December 2022, after about four years at the Fort Myers school.
FGCU Board of Trustees Chair Blake Gable told the Florida Board of Governors on March 30 he intends to present the final candidate to the board of governors for confirmation in November.
“At this time, we are still in the preliminary phase of the search process,” Pamela McCabe, an FGCU spokeswoman, wrote in an email to the Herald.
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Gable already tapped the members of the presidential search committee and will announce the names soon, pending approval from the board of governors. Tentatively, FGCU scheduled the first committee meeting for April 13.
FGCU already reviewed proposals from five search firms, and Gable expects the board of trustees to hire one of the firms at their meeting next Tuesday, McCabe said.
The university will launch its presidential search website by mid-April.
