On Oct. 24, the University of Oregon held presidential search forums for students, faculty, non-faculty staff and external community members at the Redwood Auditorium in the EMU. They also held forums on Oct. 25 in Portland at the White Stag Block. 
Forum attendees were briefed on the presidential search process. Attendees gave input about what kind of president UO needs and who they would like to see in the position. They were also allowed to ask questions about the search. 
The search follows former UO President Michael Schill’s departure from the University in August after serving more than seven years in the role. According to a statement from the Board of Trustees, it started discussions surrounding the search for the university’s permanent president at their regular board meeting on Sept. 15 and 16. 

By the time Schill left, he was making $780,000 a year, according to a May contract with the Board of Trustees. 
UO hired Parker Executive Search, a firm that often helps colleges find leadership like presidents, to compile a search profile and identify a potential next UO president. A search profile is a compilation of qualities a community would like to see in its next leader, and it acts as a job description for presidential candidates.
According to the presidential search webpage and an announcement from Search Chair Connie Seeley and Vice Search Chair Renée Evans Jackman, the final document of the presidential search profile will be submitted to the Board of Trustees for approval at their December meeting.
Undergraduate and graduate students, along with a few people from the search committee and one on the Board of Trustees, attended the student forum. Laurie C. Wilder, president of Parker Executive Search, said the search team is compiling information from students, staff and others through forums and online surveys, such as the online feedback survey and theonline recommendation survey in order to create the search profile. 
Wilder said the search profile is a chance for the UO community to state what kind of a president they want. It serves to “get the ball rolling,” she said. Until the search profile is completed and approved by the Board of Trustees, candidates won’t have a comprehensive idea of the job description.
In the student forum, some students said they’d like to see an empathetic president who is in touch with the student body and interacts more with students. Students brought up diversity, equity and inclusion as principles they would like to see valued by the next president. Porsha Williams, vice president of Parker Executive Search, said UO is not alone in wanting to see more DEI at their school and universities across the country are looking to implement it.
Luda Isakharov, ASUO president and member of the Presidential Search Committee, said the 22 person search committee is composed of a variety of people including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, classified staff, non-classified staff and administrative, each representing different parts of campus. “The president is the person that kind of creates one direction for the university and one vision and brings all that together,” Isakharov said.
Besides making financial decisions, the president sets the culture of the university, University Secretary and Advisor to the President Tim Inman said. The president creates an environment which determines whether or not students feel taken care of and whether faculty want to come to work everyday, Inman said. 
“The president is kind of like a mayor. We are a small city with over 5,000 staff and faculty and over 20,000 students, and so they help set the tone for the culture that’s expected,” Inman said.
How the transition from Interim President Patrick Phillips will go remains to be seen. 

“That’s really up to the new president to decide what to do with their team,” Seeley said. “The board is incredibly thankful and feels good that we’re in a position to have such a strong interim in place,” Seeley said.

The search should be over in early spring, Wilder said. Seeley said she is optimistic that the search will be over by “spring-ish.”