MSU's presidential search has largely been done in secret: Why that matters

EAST LANSING — Michigan State University hopes to hire its new president before Thanksgiving, but some stakeholders have criticized the hiring process and its lack of transparency.

These concerns, voiced by the Faculty Senate and students, could affect the incoming president’s relationship with these groups. Also of concern are recent unrest among the MSU Board of Trustees and the high-profile firing of football coach Mel Tucker.

"Because the university has relied on Band-Aid solutions to their problems, understandably the public does not trust them," said Demetri Morgan, an associate professor of higher education at Loyola University Chicago. "Even if the next president is perfect, they will be operating at a deficit because of the secrecy."

Presidential searches have long been secret, in part to allow candidates to interview without jeopardizing their current positions at other institutions.

Yet there is heightened awareness surrounding this search. MSU has experienced instability in the president’s role since Lou Anna Simon resigned in 2018 in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal.

There have been four presidents since, including Samuel Stanley, who resigned in late 2022 after saying he had lost confidence in the board; and Teresa Woodruff, who has been acting as interim president since but is not seeking the permanent role.

Closed searches can lead to mistrust

MSU named a presidential search committee of 29 members in 2023 that includes trustees Dennis Denno and Brianna Scott, and representatives from a variety of interest groups, including faculty, business owners and politicians. The committee, assisted by executive search firm Isaacson Miller, has not released any information about applicants, finalists or who it has interviewed.

That’s not unusual, but the reasons behind it also aren’t explained well to the public, said Morgan, whose work focuses on the impact collective decision-making and culturally sustaining governance has on institutional transformation.

"I do understand why they do it that way," Morgan said. "They want to do right by their candidates. There are ways for a university to be as transparent as possible during the process while still keeping names secret. But some people won't see it that way."

As part of its process, MSU has a website with updates on the search, and officials conducted forums in the spring for students to highlight what they wanted in the university's next president.

Those are steps in the right direction, according to Morgan, but that might not matter to community members who have felt betrayed by the process before.

Faculty members say they need more input

This year's 29-member presidential search committee is the largest in the school's history, according to data from the Office of Academic Governance. Yet faculty representation is the second-lowest by proportion: there are four on the current committee. Data shows faculty representatives have made up most of the search committees in the past.

“Faculty are the ones with the most experience with the work the university president does,” said Jack Lipton, MSU Faculty Senate chairperson. Lipton is also the chair of the translational neuroscience department.

“It was a battle to even get four of us on the search committee,” he said. “Trustee Scott was really pushing for us.”

Morgan said the reduced number of faculty isn't necessarily a problem.

"I would advise faculty to make sure their representatives on the search committee are fighting for the faculty's interests and communicating clearly," he said. "Adding more people might not make this any different."

Lipton said he believes faculty having a larger role in the search would allow them to stand more strongly in support of the Board of Trustees' choice and would serve to build trust.

"We've suggested in board meetings to have forums where the faculty could interview the final three candidates," Lipton said. "We offered to submit those questions in advance. We offered to sign NDAs. The board has said they'll get back to us, and never did.

"The board cannot even agree with each other, why should we trust who they pick?" he said. "This appointment will not affect their day jobs, but it will affect ours."

The Faculty Senate approved a resolution on Sept. 19, calling for more emphasis on academics in the search, noting “the Faculty Senate believes the next president of Michigan State University should be a preeminent scholar, an accomplished academic, and an individual with substantial experience in leading a university administration."

Students have little official voice in search

The search committee includes two undergraduates and one graduate student. MSU students have long called for change in leadership and have asked for more of a voice in the process. At the Oct. 27 board meeting, several students said they felt unsafe on campus, referencing sexual abuse by former doctor Larry Nassar, a mass shooting in February that killed three students, and repeated racist incidents.

"Building trust between students and leadership, faculty and leadership is going to take time," Morgan said. "I believe in shared governance, but it cannot work without everyone being on the same page. The board must take a step back and reflect on how things have gotten to this point, and then make space for everyone to discuss moving forward."

The two undergraduate representatives on the committee did not respond for a request for comment. Graduate representative Hannah Jeffery declined to comment.

In a previous comment to the State News, Jeffery said she worries that the committee doesn’t fully represent the student body and its interests. She said she feels pressure as the only voice for the graduate and professional students on campus.

“I just hope the board was thoughtful in choosing what vested interests they’re hoping to put in front of themselves and in front of the candidates,” Jeffery said.

Morgan emphasized the role of honest communication between students and leadership in rebuilding trust.

"I think a lot of the time, when there are incidents like the ones at MSU, leadership doesn't want to be honest with the students about how long it will take to actually enact change," he said. "Sometimes it's easier to co-opt what the students want into something to placate them so leaders can say they did something when they didn't."

"But students aren't dumb," he said. "They know they won't be in college forever. They want what's best for future students. I advise leadership to walk with the students trying to make change for the time that they are there."

Is the job still attractive for top candidates?

While the search has been criticized for being rushed and lacking transparency, infighting between members of the MSU Board of Trustees has some calling for the search to be postponed.

In October, Trustee Dennis Denno, however, reiterated that a president would be announced by Thanksgiving. He has not changed his stance on that timeline, despite concerns about the dysfunction of university leadership.

According to Denno, the search is down to its final candidates and the board will soon vote on its choice. Denno indicated at the Oct. 27 board meeting that recent news from MSU in regard to former football coach Mel Tucker has not dissuaded the finalists.

"I hope the candidates are well aware of what they're getting into," Lipton said. "This process needs to be taken seriously, or else it will put the future president in jeopardy."

MSU paid Issacson Miller to vet candidates. According to the contract, the school is paying $290,000, plus reimbursements for expenses such as travel and mail fees.

"Poor governance costs a lot, in time and money," Morgan said. "It costs a lot to conduct searches for presidents and to pay lawsuits. But it's important to understand that poor governance also has an emotional cost. If MSU does not take a step back to recognize the harm that has been done to people's lives, this pattern will continue."

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU's presidential search has been done in secret: Why that matters