By Joseph Lyell —
The first round of cuts in the presidential search process culled the original pool of 171 candidates down to approximately 10 at the March 8 trustee meeting. Trustees met with search consultant Bill Funk and reviewed 49 applications today.
“The pool looks excellent. It was naturally diverse by gender, racial and ethnic background, experience,” Trustee Bonita Black said.
After meeting for more than two and a half hours in closed session, Black said the remaining candidate pool has been narrowed and the smaller field shares the diversity of the original pool.
“We anticipate having another round of cuts, and then [we will] get to a finalist,” she said.
Three or four applicants will be left after the next cut. These candidates will be invited to campus to meet with eight constituency representatives who will speak for students, staff, faculty and deans.
After soliciting community feedback in campus listening tours, trustees crafted a leadership statement to pinpoint the desired qualifications for the next president.
“We felt like the candidates that we got down to more than meet the requirements in the leadership statement,” Black said.
The remaining applicants will be brought in for 90 minute interviews in the coming weeks. Board chair David Grissom said some interviews may be conducted over video calls, but in-person meetings with candidates are preferred.
Black said the board is on track to have a president named by the end of May.
File Photo / The Louisville Cardinal
