With one of several UI presidential finalists set to be announced, will there be any surprises?

IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa campus on Wednesday will learn the name of the first of four finalists in the running to become its next president, and chances are good he or she will be an academic or someone with experience in academia.

But, according to higher education experts, that's not a sure bet any more. A growing number of schools are hiring presidents with more diversified portfolios, rather than those who followed a more traditional academic route — climbing the ladder from faculty member to dean to provost, for example.

'It's much more open in terms of the kind of candidates that institutions and boards are considering today,' said James Ferrare, who recently retired from his role as managing principal with AGB Search and still is conducting part-time counsel for the higher education-focused search firm.

Before, Ferrare said, provosts — considered chief academic officers for universities — most often produced presidents.

'But that is no longer the case,' he said. 'It happens. But not as often. The trend today is fairly wide open.'

Examples of university presidents with backgrounds outside the academic box include Mitchell Daniels, who became president of Purdue University in 2013 after serving two terms as governor of Indiana, and John Thrasher, who became president of Florida State University last year after serving for years as a lawmaker, businessman, lawyer, and lobbyist.

Bruce Benson, before becoming University of Colorado president in 2008, was widely known for his business, political, and philanthropic endeavors. He founded Benson Mineral Group in 1965, was involved in banking, real estate, cable television, and restaurant endeavors, and was the Republican nominee for Colorado governor in 1994.

'There is no formula,' Ferrare said.

Driving that shift, in part, are changes facing higher education nationally — with state funding dwindling and budgets tightening while student debt becomes a growing concern, according to Ferrare.

'Some people believe — and it's becoming more widely agreed — that higher education is a business,' he said. 'So you need to function as a business. It's the business of education.'

A 21-member search committee formed for the UI presidential search, up front, agreed to frame the position description to attract a wide array of candidates — including those outside academia. And Larry Beaty, one of two people representing the public on the search committee, said the university did get a number of non-traditional applicants — those who have not spent their entire careers in academics.

'The world is changing and if we want to compete — or get ahead — we need to keep up,' Beaty said.

'Unusual' search process

When comparing the UI presidential search to others across the country, experts say it differs in the committee's decision to announce the finalists' names. Two of the institution's presidential finalists are scheduled to visit campus this week — on Thursday and Friday — and two more are slated to come Monday and Tuesday.

The Board of Regents is planning to release the names of each finalist 24 hours before they arrive, and higher education analysts say that's unusual for an institution Iowa's size.

In fact, Parker Executive Search — hired to facilitate the process — warned the search committee its openness could drive away applications. And Beaty said the committee received four to five candidate names and materials 24 hours before the application deadline on Aug. 3 — presumably because they were concerned about exposure.

Some potential applicants didn't apply at all, he said.

'Parker said we had some very good people who did not apply out of concern for confidentiality,' he said.

Molly Corbett Broad, president of the Washington D.C.-based American Council on Education, said she was surprised to hear the UI finalists will be made public.

'It is unusual for a major university like UI to reveal the names of final candidates,' Broad said. 'They do run the risk of having them drop out, and they certainly run the risk of losing strong candidates.'

The university also runs the risk of not being able to attract a sitting president from another institution, which she said happens often.

Broad used the UI itself as an example — citing James Freedman, who left UI in 1987 to become president of Dartmouth College; Hunter Rawlings, who left in 1995 to become president of Cornell University; Mary Sue Coleman, who left in 2002 and became president of University of Michigan; and David Skorton, who left in 2006 to become president of Cornell and then Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

'The University of Iowa stands out across the nation as providing the seed corn for the future leadership of American higher education,' he said.

'Pretty complicated' to serve as president

Even with all the variation, provosts still are considered prime candidates to become university presidents, according to Broad. But more of those folks are choosing to stay put and not apply for presidencies, in part, because of the increase in external responsibilities placed on presidents.

'They see how presidents spend their time — fundraising and engaging in community relations and with legislators and having more challenging relationships with board members,' Broad said. 'It has become a pretty complicated set of responsibilities to have serving as president.'

A 2011 study of college and university presidents in America shows more than half came directly from the position of provost, chief academic officer, or president — 53.5 percent, according to the American Council on Education report. Only 11.4 percent came from outside higher education, and 10.7 percent from senior executive academic positions — including deans, the report shows.

But Broad said deans, like those outside academia, are being more widely considered for presidential vacancies.

'These are individuals who bring the kind of management and analytical skills that are required of a president,' she said.

Some of the non-traditional hires have faced opposition and pushback.

Opponents of Thrasher's hiring at Florida State, for example, said he should have been passed over due to his lack of academic credentials and because of his political involvement, according to media reports. Benson's hiring in Colorado raised questions and concerns among faculty, students, and even members of the Board of Regents related to his limited higher education experience and partisan background.

But, seven years later, Benson stands as the CU system's longest serving president in more than 50 years, and CU regent Michael Carrigan said he thinks Benson 'has done a very good job.'

The growing need for a president with more than just academic experience, Carrigan said, was part of Benson's appeal.

'We thought it would be important to have someone who could interact with business leaders, donors, and the General Assembly,' he said.