Regents choose Parker for ISU search, expect costs to top $100,000

IOWA CITY - State regents chose Parker Executive Search to lead the search for a new Iowa State University president, a process that is expected to cost $100,000 to $150,000.

The board interviewed four search firms in April and chose Parker, a firm based in Atlanta, during a meeting Wednesday in Iowa City.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy will step down no later than July 31, 2012, after a nearly 10-year tenure.

It's expected the campus search committee, in conjunction with help from the search firm, will recommend three to five finalists to the regents. The finalists will come to campus for public interviews. Several regents said the public portion is important to get campus input, even if the public interviews scare off some potentially candidates.

“We could lose some viable candidates,” said Regent Jack Evans, of Cedar Rapids and a member of The Gazette board of director. “But I think it needs to be an open process with on-campus interviews.”

The regents also approved a framework for a search committee of 18 voting members and two ex-officio members. The 18 voting members will include two regents and nearly 10 faculty and staff members from ISU, as well as two students and representatives from the Alumni Association and the ISU Foundation.

The board selected ISU College of Business Dean Labh Hira and ISU graduate and donor and Ames businessman Roger Underwood as the two co-chairmen of the search committee. Regents Bruce Rastetter of Hubbard and Katie Mulholland of Marion were chosen as the two regents who will serve as voting members of the search committee.

The remaining search committee membership will be set by the regents at a later date.