Curators hold forums in search for new president

~ Forums will be held in Kansas City, Columbia, St. Louis, Rolla and Springfield.

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- While the University of Missouri Board of Curators is looking nationally for a new system president, many who attended a public forum here Tuesday afternoon urged the board not to overlook candidates who can be found closer to home.

As part of its efforts to locate and recruit a new university president, the curators are holding six public forums around the state this month. The public is invited to the forums to discuss their ideas on the search with representatives of the board.

When welcoming those attending the forum, board member Judith Haggard of Kennett explained the purpose of the forums. "Your input is important because the curators represent you as we go about the task of selecting a president for the University of Missouri," Haggard said at the Delta Research Center, the university agricultural station in the Bootheel. "Make no mistake about it, the person we select as the university's next president will impact the Eighth Congressional District and our entire state."

With that in mind, MU graduate F.R. Sutherland, the executive director of the Southeast Missouri Economic Development Alliance, said the curators should strongly consider a Missourian to fill the position. In Sutherland's words, "consider someone who has some skin in the game."

Sutherland was referring to a person who "has a knowledge of the state of Missouri and a love for the state of Missouri."

The university must replace Elson Floyd, who was chosen in December to become president of Washington State University. Floyd, who has led UM since January 2003, will depart from his post in late April, said university system director of communications Scott Charton.

"We are trying to be responsive and be the University of Missouri and ask people what qualities they want in a president," Charton said.

The nine-member board of curators hired executive search firm Baker-Parker Inc. to identify candidates. The board also established a 17-member advisory committee that includes students and faculty to help screen potential presidents.

After the meeting, Haggard commented that she anticipated hearing the same idea in following forums.

Former board president John Hall Dalton of Kennett said the board's list of qualities needed in a president may be too expansive. Referring to the "Leadership Statement" written by the board and Baker-Parker executive search consultants, Dalton said, "No one has all these talents."

Narrowing it down

The statement includes nine essentials, laid out in lengthy paragraphs, of qualities needed in a president.

Dalton suggested the board narrow the qualifications it expects in a candidate to a few critically important qualities that would enable a person to relate to important aspects of university life, including the student body, faculty, parents and others.

Larry Swindle of Kennett expressed the same sentiment. "All the things you require, all you want, are almost impossible in one person," he said.

Baker-Parker Inc. is looking nationally for someone to meet the qualifications set out in the statement. Jerry Paul Combs of Kennett noticed that no representative from Baker-Parker Inc. was present at the forum. "Does anyone from Baker plan on attending these forums?" he asked.

Ken Hutchinson, vice president for human resources for the university, assured Combs and others that a representative from Baker would be present at all future forums.

Dalton also suggested the board is going to have to address some issues within itself before hiring a new president. He suggested the present board has been attempting to micromanage the institution and should hire a strong president who is capable of managing the institution.

Former curator John Lichtenegger of Jackson said the university has an excellent opportunity to plan for the future. He suggested five qualities to the board he believes are essential in a president.

Among those qualities, Lichtenegger said "a commitment to obtain the resources from the legislature and private citizens to properly fund the university and to develop a plan to achieve proper funding" was critical.

Lichtenegger also suggested the new president should be a person who "is willing to hand-off and leave his hands off campus responsibilities, letting the entrepreneurial spirit of campus leaders shine and grow."

In addition to candidates with an academic background, the curators could consider someone from the business or political world, Charton said. Floyd has made the economic development of the state a formal part of the university's mission for the first time, he noted.

The president of the university "is a CEO in the business sense as well as the academic sense," Charton said. "We need someone with business savvy."

Floyd's tenure at UM was marked by some rocky public relations, most notably involving basketball player Ricky Clemons and former coach Quinn Snyder, and retrenchment prompted by falling levels of state spending. More recently, however, Floyd earned praise as he sought to forge a united message with the state's public colleges and universities.

"He went to the other campuses and talked about what are the common purposes," Charton said. "It was about how we are doing in public higher education and it was the good, the bad and the ugly."

The curators have set no deadline for completing the search, Charton said.

Forums will be held in Kansas City, Columbia, St. Louis, Rolla and Springfield. For more information about the search, or to nominate someone to be university president, visit www.umsystem.edu, Charton said.

Southeast Missourian staff writer Rudi Keller contributed to this report.