By Kathy Barnard, University Communications
PULLMAN, Wash. – The search for the next president of Washington State University is officially underway following a special meeting of the WSU Board of Regents this afternoon.
“Appointment of the president is the regents’ most important responsibility,” said Board Chair Ryan Durkan. “We will need the help of the entire WSU community.”
The regents had created an ad hoc committee including regents Mike Worthy, Lura Powell and Laura Jennings to begin framing the search for a successor to President Elson S. Floyd who died June 20 of complications from colon cancer.
“Out of respect for President Floyd and his family, we haven’t put particularly high visibility on the search until after the memorial service,” said Worthy, who will serve as chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee. “But a significant amount of thought has gone into what the search would look like.”
Both Durkan and Worthy emphasized that the search will be as transparent and inclusive as possible, while at the same time respecting the confidentiality of potential candidates. Worthy said the committee hopes to make an appointment by end of spring semester 2016, “however, our primary objective is to find the best candidate.”
Durkan will invite a broad range of individuals to serve on the Presidential Search Advisory Committee. The board hopes to approve and announce the committee membership at its regularly scheduled meeting Sept. 17-18 on the Pullman campus. Worthy said the board is looking for a cross-section of the university community with “voices in the room from all components and key constituencies of the entire Cougar Nation.”
The board is planning to conduct at least seven forums to solicit input and will be launching a website, presidentialsearch.wsu.edu, with an online input mechanism, within the next several days.
The regents approved search guidelines and approved hiring Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm that specializes in higher education searches, to assist with the WSU presidential search.
“This firm met all of the characteristics we outlined in our RFP and has extensive experience with WSU,” Worthy said. “They have participated in seven WSU searches at the dean or vice presidential level, two in progress right now.”
Contact:
Kathy Barnard, WSU University Communications, 509-335-8055, kbarnard@wsu.edu