By Stephanie Smith
Presidential Search Committee names seven candidates
The committee charged with finding the new University of Louisville president has announced that there are as many as seven semifinalists in the search. However, there is still the possibility of additional candidates surfacing in the impending months.
During the October 21 meeting of the board, Bill Funk, national managing director with the Korn/Ferry International executive search firm of Washington D.C., spoke to the members by way of video from his office in Dallas. Funk told the committee that five contenders have agreed to interview for the position, but the interviews have yet to be scheduled. He also said that he is trying to coerce the two other candidates to interview; they were expected to decide by the end of last week.
Among the five candidates willing to interview for the presidency, all have worked at one time for one of the 61 U.S. schools that belong to the American Association of Universities, for research institutions that offer the widest array of doctoral programs and for schools in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Six of the candidates have experience at a major urban university.
Of the seven candidates, two are women and two are African Americans. Junior Bridgeman, co-chairman of the search committee, and Funk would not release the names of the semifinalists. The candidates were discussed in a private session of the board members.
Overall, there has been communication with more than 1,000 people concerning the position. Although only seven tentative semifinalists have been named, the board is still open to the possibility of other candidates entering into the search.
“There may be more,” Bridgeman said. “It’s not just ‘Let’s go with seven candidates.’…There may be other people who are interested in the job.” (Courier-Journal)
The committee contrived a provisional timeline this month concerning actions to be taken for the rest of the search period. On the timeline, interviews with prospective candidates are to follow through early next month. Deciding on which finalists to bring to the campus is to be done by early December, and those visits are to take place by mid-January. Finally, the board of trustees is expected to select a president in February.
Nevertheless, Bridgeman has continued to express that the most important aspect in finding a new president is finding the right one, not finding one speedily. “You don’t want to rush and make it happen,” he said.
