The Oregon University System Chancellor fielded questions Wednesday about the closed presidential search from concerned University Senators at their monthly meeting.
Jim Bean, the University senior vice president and provost, also updated senators at the meeting about the development of a campus-wide academic plan, the first draft of which will be made public Monday. University Senate President Paul van Donkelaar announced his intent to explore restructuring the University’s internal governance.
OUS Chancellor George Pernsteiner told the senate that OUS and the presidential search committee were still on schedule in their efforts to find a successor to President Dave Frohnmayer by spring 2009.
Pernsteiner said he and the search committee are making every effort to gain an over-arching understanding of what the University community feels would be good qualities to have in a new president. He said there is an increased emphasis on soliciting campus input because the president will be selected in a closed search process.
Several senators voiced confusion and concern with OUS’ decision to conduct a closed search.
“I recognize that you do have a preference for open searches in this state,” Pernsteiner said.
Pernsteiner said he chose to conduct a closed search for the University president to expand the pool of potential candidates.
He said it has been his experience that most sitting University presidents will not participate in presidential searches for other institutions because they are fearful of losing their current positions. Holding a closed, non-public search should encourage a wider pool of candidates, Pernsteiner said.
“We need the very best president for this University that we can find,” Pernsteiner said. “This gives us the best pool.”
After Pernsteiner’s presentation, Bean announced the campus academic plan is nearing completion, and he plans to post it on the provost’s Web site for the University community to review.
“The academic plan is really a plan of what the academic portion of … this institution wants to be when it grows up,” Bean said.
Bean said his office began working on the plan in June at a faculty retreat. He hopes to have the plan completed by winter 2009, in time to show to the presidential candidates.
“We want to communicate to the presidential candidates who we are as a faculty and who we want to be,” Bean said.
Bean said he will post a draft of the academic plan to the provost Web site on Monday to facilitate a campus-wide discussion of its content.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for us,” Bean said. “If we can get the (campus community) to buy into this, we can start making investments based on the plan.”
Van Donkelaar also announced his plan to explore restructuring the University’s internal governance by creating a faculty senate and redefining the University senate.
He said he hopes this restructuring will improve the faculty participation in the senate, which has been decreasing over the past several years.
Van Donkelaar hopes to have a draft of potential changes to the governance by the end of the year to present to the new University president.
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