University of Iowa search committee identifies 12 presidential semifinalists

IOWA CITY - A University of Iowa presidential search committee narrowed its prospect pool of 79 applicants down to 12 semifinalists Friday after spending the day poring over application materials.

The committee, which voted in open session Friday afternoon to advance a dozen semifinalists, didn't name its top prospects - whom the group plans to interview virtually next week.

'We feel good about the overall quality of that pool,” Roderick McDavis, managing principal for consultant AGB Search, said Friday of the larger applicant total.

Search committee members didn't publicly express feelings or share thoughts on the semifinalists or applicant pool - which they only gained access to March 16, a day after the window to apply closed March 15.

Following Friday's 'paper cut,” as the committee calls its application-whittling process, virtual semifinalist interviews will be scheduled for April 1-3.

Based on the interviews - which could go an hour each, or longer, depending on the number of semifinalists - the committee will identify up to four finalists who will be invited for on-campus two-day hybrid interviews, including virtual open forums with the campus community, between April 12-23.

If the committee identifies four finalists, the first will come April 12-13; the second April 15-16; the third April 19-20; and the fourth finalist will come April 22-23.

Community members will be invited to provide feedback via online survey until April 27, and the search committee will discuss their findings and campus feedback with the Board of Regents on April 29. The board will interview finalists April 30, with expectations of choosing a new president that same day.

Although the committee went into Friday with an open mind on how many semifinalists to choose, McDavis at an earlier meeting threw out the number eight in suggesting the committee schedule semi and finalist interviews based on availability and not preference.

'All eight are equal, or X number or whatever that number is for your semifinalists,” he said. 'If you have three, four, whatever number it is for finalists, they're all unranked.”

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