Chair Talk 3.5 September 2016

Sept. 19, 2016

Chair Talk 3.5     Update on Presidential Search

At the upcoming ABOR meeting this week the Regents will launch the search. They have announced the choice of a search firm, and will spell out their vision for the search at the meeting in Flagstaff. As you may recall, we recently carried out a survey concerning UA and Presidential characteristics, the summarized results of which were sent to the Co-Chairs of the Search Advisory Committee (Regents Ridenour and Shoopman), and are also appended below. We will do our best to keep faculty informed as this process unfolds.

REPORT ON FACULTY SURVEY RE PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH

We had a robust response – just about 600 faculty expressed their views, which are summarized below.

MOST IMPORTANT UA CHARACTERISTICS

When asked to rank the most important university characteristics from a list of options, the top five themes were:

  1. Good at building economic, intellectual and creative capacity (306)
  2. Willing and able to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy (290)
  3. Respectful of shared governance in decision-making (272)
  4. Innovative, entrepreneurial and inspirational (244)
  5. Diverse and inclusive (221)

MOST IMPORTANT PRESIDENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS

  1. Operates in an ethical manner and is accountable to others (302)
  2. Has a vision for new directions, coupled with respect for academic freedom (259)
  3. Ability to engage productively with government officials (226)
  4. Ability to forge strong relationships with donors (190)
  5. Understands state and national narratives around higher education (184)

NARATIVE FEEDBACK

The survey offered faculty the opportunity to build on the presidential attribute list by providing narrative comments. While the importance of integrity, political savvy, and fundraising expertise was underscored, issues related to fair and competitive pay for administrators, faculty and staff, and the need to attend to the quality of the undergraduate experience, also emerged as important for the next president to address.