Iowa State officially launches presidential search

The Board of Regents on Thursday officially launched its search for Iowa State University's next president, posting an appeal for nominations and applications that lists a terminal degree as preferred, but leaves the door open for non-traditional candidates.

Members of a committee leading the presidential search recently asked whether Iowa State's governance structure requires its president be on faculty, and thus have a terminal degree - the highest degree awarded in a given field - addressing an issue that became heated during the University of Iowa's 2015 presidential search that landed IBM executive Bruce Harreld.

Committee and regent leadership said ISU policy does not necessarily require a president be on faculty in the traditional sense, a position supported by Thursday's call for nominations and applications. Under the expectations and attributes section of the advertisement, it lists a terminal degree and 'knowledge of higher education trends with significant higher education experience in an academic institution” as 'preferred.”

'This search is open,” Luis Rico-Gutierrez, co-chairman of the search committee and dean of the ISU College of Design, told The Gazette in June. 'We're in the talent business. We want to look for talent anywhere we can.”

Attributes that do not seem negotiable, according to the ISU position description and advertisement, include shared governance skills, success in leading and implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives, and fiscal management and fundraising experience.

Although the position description doesn't explicitly require academic administrative experience or a terminal degree, it does call for 'comprehensive understanding of the tenure process and the role of academic freedom,” and 'in-depth understanding of the critical role of universities in local and regional economic development.”

Candidates also should have 'proven strategic leadership experience in advancing the triple mandate of the land-grant mission.” That three-tiered mission includes education, research and outreach.

'The new president must maintain the highest standards in all aspects of the land-grant mission and celebrate Iowa State's disciplinary breadth,” according to the advertisement. 'Further, the university's national renown in research must have robust support, appropriately balanced with a commitment to a unique, rich student experience characterized by unlimited social and academic opportunities in a friendly and supportive campus environment.”

The post calls for applications by Aug. 24, although it leaves open the door for late arrivals. It requests resumes, letters of interest and references, and vows confidentiality through the finalist stage 'to the extent permitted by law.”

A timeline of the search has the 21-member committee interviewing semifinalists in late September and bringing three to four finalists to the Ames campus between Oct. 9 and 13. The plan has the Board of Regents meeting Oct. 23 to interview finalists and choose a new president.

Thursday's advertisement indicates a new president will begin his or her tenure in early 2018.

That person will replace former ISU President Steven Leath, who starts as Auburn University's new president July 15. Leath tendered his resignation in March and left his post in May, when former University of Northern Iowa President Ben Allen stepped in as interim.

The Iowa State presidential search is the third presidential search since 2015, when the Board of Regents replaced former UI President Sally Mason with Harreld, who drew expansive criticism for his dearth of administrative academic experience.

UI faculty and student leaders issued votes of no confidence in the Board of Regents for Harreld's hire after the campus constituents roundly rejected him as a candidate. Since that time, Harreld - although beset by some of his staunchest critics - has garnered support from across campus.

In contrast to the UI process, the Board of Regents last year received widespread praise for its search to replace former UNI President Bill Ruud. Mark Nook, who was chancellor at Montana State University Billings, took over at UNI in February.

In addition to its presidential searches, the Board of Regents is about to launch a search for a new executive director after former director Robert Donley announced his resignation last month.

The board and the universities alike have been plagued of late by decreasing state support in the form of significant funding cuts, both in the budget year that just ended and in the new one that just began. The advertisement doesn't mention those challenges and the affect they've had on faculty compensation and retention, compounded by a growing student body.

In the description of Iowa State included with Thursday's ad, the university boasts a swelling enrollment that last fall reached 36,600 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students - making ISU the largest university in the state.

The $1.5 billion enterprise - through its 6,000-some faculty, administrators, and staff - 'serves all Iowans through its first-in-the-nation extension and outreach service with 100 offices throughout the state,” according to the ad.

l Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com