Three concurrent searches for presidents in the Nevada System of Higher Education continue at Great Basin College, Nevada State College and the University of Nevada, Reno.

Things ‘happen quickly’ at GBC
GBC Faculty Senate Chair Sarah Negrete reports that the search committeethere met with its consultant Jan. 27 to get the process rolling. They approved the President Leadership Statement, related materials and advertising options, so that the consultant could place ads in approved publications.

“After the applications are received, there will be meetings that happen rather quickly,” Negrete says.

During those meetings, expected to take place in April and May, the committee will choose semi-finalists, then finalists, and conduct interviews and tours with finalists. The committee will then choose its new president, subject to approval by the Board of Regents at its May-June meeting in Reno.

NSC faculty pulling for academic candidate
Following a survey of its members in January, the NSC Faculty Senate reported that more than 70 percent of respondents considered a PhD and professorial experience essential qualifications for their future president. Approximately 65 percent of those surveyed said they believe previous experience as a provost or president is an essential competency of the position, with another 12 percent rating this experience as “preferred.”

Joanna Shearer, president of theNSC chapter of NFA, says: “NSC’s faculty is confident that it is through the leadership of an academic with the unique administrative experience in an environment that matches our own that we will maintain the level of instructional excellence and adherence to the principles of shared governance for which our campus is becoming known.”

NSC faculty expressed disappointment that an earned PhD and professorial/academic administrative experience were omitted from the ad posted Feb. 14 in the Chronicle of Higher Education, noting that the postings for the future presidents of GBC and UNR
included academic experience and educational requirements.

NSC faculty will continue to work to make their voices heard as the search progresses.

Consultant to UNR gathers input
At UNR, the head consultant of the firm assisting with the president search, Bill Funk, was on campus for two days the week of Feb. 13. He met with various groups, including student leaders, faculty senate, staff employees’ council and the deans, and also held open forums for any who wanted to attend.

The NFA’s Jim Richardson, who attended one forum, says, “Funk seemed to understand very well what kind of university we are and want to be. A number of faculty present at the meeting I attended stressed that UNR is a Research I university and that this needs to be recognized and promoted by anyone interested in the presidency.”

Funk said there were already more than 90 nominees being reviewed for the post, but that more are needed. His firm will release any names to the search committee until all are screened according to the criteria established by the search committee and winnowed down to a manageable number.

The three vacancies coincided last fall, when GBC President Carl Diekhans retired, NSC President Lesley Di Mare accepted a position as president of Colorado State University-Pueblo, and UNR President Milton Glick died. Their interim replacements are, respectively, Lynn Mahlberg, Bart Patterson and Marc Johnson. NSHE Regent Kevin Melcher is chairing GBC’s search committee; Mark Alden is chairing NSC’s; and James Dean Leavitt is chairing UNR’s.

NSHE Chancellor Dan Klaich says, “Running three presidential searches concurrently is pretty daunting, if not exhausting.” Add to that NSHE’s involvement in the revision of the state’s method for funding higher education, he notes, and System staff has a lot going on.