If all goes smoothly, Mississippi University for Women should have a new president as early as this fall.
“Generally, it’s about a six-month process,” Caron Blanton, director of public information for Mississippi’s Institutions of Higher Learning, told The Dispatch last week. “You have to take in account some delays that happen due to school being out, but normally you’re looking at six months unless it is an expedited search.”
The IHL Board of Trustees, which selects presidents for the state’s eight public universities, took the first real step in the process Wednesday when it named a three-member Board Search Committee. Committee members are C.D. Smith (chair), Shane Hooper and Christy Pickering.
MUW President Dr. Jim Borsig announced earlier this month that he would resign as the university’s 14th president to take over as IHL Commissioner, replacing Hank Bounds. Bounds announced on Jan. 12 that he was resigning to become the Chancellor at the University of Nebraska.
Both changes go into effect April 15.
While it is ultimately the IHL’s responsibility to select a successor for Borsig, Blanton said the normal process for choosing university presidents include input from local stakeholders.
“The usual process is something we call a 20-step process,” Blanton said. “After the Board Search Committee is formed, the next step is to form a Campus Advisory Committee that includes members from all of the stakeholder groups – students, faculty, staff and alumni.”
The Board Search Committee holds “listening sessions” on campus to get input on what qualities stakeholders feel are most important in choosing the president.
After the listening session is completed, the Campus Advisory Committee begins the task of reviewing applications that have been compiled by a search firm contracted by the IHL.
“Each board member reads all the applications and makes his or her list of five recommendations to the search firm, which compiles the recommendations and ranks them according to the committee’s responses,” Blanton said.
Blanton said there are usually eight to 10 applicants drawn from that original pool of applicants.
Members of the Campus Advisory Committee then form a sub-committee that participates in the first and second round of interviews.
After those interviews, the Board Search Committee, announces a preferred candidate, who meets with stakeholders on campus.
The process ends when the Board Search Committee announces its choice.
“That’s how it normally works,” Blanton said. “But a few years ago, we amended our bylaws to allow for what we call an expedited search. Usually, that’s the kind of search we use when there is something already on campus who has all the qualifications that make that person the ideal candidate. That’s what we did with our most recent president position, at Alcorn State.”
Borsig said he expects an interim president will be named to take his place after he officially exits his post at MUW in April.
“Normally, that would be a decision made by the Commissioner, but in this case, Board President Aubrey Lucas, will make that decision,” Borsig said. “I would expect an interim president would be named around the same time I leave, maybe a few days earlier.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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