Search committee for University of Iowa president to begin meeting this month

A 21-person committee convened to search for the next University of Iowa president will meet for the first time March 25 in hopes of identifying three to four finalists worthy of bringing to campus in the fall.

Outgoing President Sally Mason in January announced plans to retire in August, calling it the right time personally and professionally. The timing of her announcement and departure gave the search for a replacement a slower start, Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter said Wednesday.

But the board last month named the members of its search committee and announced plans to use the Atlanta-based firm Parker Executive Search to help facilitate the process. The board is planning to pay Parker $200,000 for its role in the process - although a written contract hasn't been finalized.

The board used Parker in its searches for new presidents at Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa in 2011 and 2012. Parker, in those searches, charged lower fees at the outset but negotiated additional charges based on a percentage of the hired president's salary, Rastetter said.

Because Parker's charges for the UI search are not expected to increase based on the new executive's salary, Rastetter said, the board could pay the firm less this time around than it did for the ISU and UNI searches.

The $200,000 will cover only the contract with Parker, meaning the search's total cost - including expenses for travel, advertising, research, and communication - will be higher, according to board officials.

The goal, according to Rastetter, is to spend the next few months identifying applicants and whittling down the pool. The committee aims to interview candidates in July and bring finalists to campus at the start of the fall semester.

Rastetter said the ISU search drew 80-some applicants, and the UNI job attracted 60-some prospects. The goal, he said, is to get as many applicants for the UI presidency as possible and conduct about a dozen off-site interviews before bringing three to four finalists to campus and making their names public.

Regent Ruth Harkin asked about the prospect of attracting enough high-quality candidates, and Rastetter said keeping the search open and making finalists' names public can present challenges.

'The growing trend nationally has been to have trustees and regents do private searches so that those in strong leadership positions remain confidential,” Rastetter said.

The Board of Regents, like in its searches for new ISU and UNI presidents, has said it plans to conduct the UI search in the open - inviting the community to meet the finalists and weigh in. But, Rastetter said, during the ISU and UNI searches, that decision prompted several finalists who didn't want their names public to drop out.

That, he said, is why the board ended up choosing between two finalists, instead of three or four.

'We just want to flag that as an issue,” he said.

Rastetter challenged Parker and the search committee to encourage UI presidential candidates to stick with the process - even into the public portion of the search.