A Search of Presidential Proportion
On June 20 and 21, we held open listening sessions to hear your thoughts on what we should be looking for in the selection process for a new President for the University of Nebraska. Maybe you were there. Maybe you couldn’t make it. Maybe you didn’t even know about it. Either way, I’m here now asking you – what do you think?
What qualities do you think will best benefit the university, the community and the state as a whole? Someone business-minded? Someone philosophical? Someone who will focus on the curriculum? Or maybe you think what’s needed is a more general approach?
This whole selection process is an intensive one. It’s thorough. It’s careful. Not every piece of it is entirely public. I’ll explain.
There are good reasons for this. Where I typically go for a total transparency approach, I can understand why that doesn’t necessarily apply to the selection process for our new President. For example, the nature of these kinds of searches has changed over the years. They tend to be conducted in a shorter time frame and often candidates won’t declare themselves because they may be in a position where doing so openly would imperil their work (should they not be selected).
Even though I can’t share every part of this selection process with you, I’m taking you on this journey with me and will share when I can and explain when I can’t. Plus, I can share my thoughts, the questions I think we need to ask ourselves, and the invitation for your input.
Personally, I think we need someone who is really good at collaborative efforts.
At any given point, regarding any decision to be made about the university, there are lots and lots of people who are involved. Once you start thinking about the bigger picture – the community, the state, the legislature – the ability to work effectively with people to find common ground with the people’s best interest in mind, that’s a major skill. One I think we would all benefit from.
Those are my two cents. But I’m more interested in hearing yours. I want you to think about the future of the university – where do you see it going, and how do you think we should get there? We have another open listening session coming up that I’ll tell you all about as soon as I can, but in the meantime, I’m listening…
*Barbara’s thoughts as written by Kate based on weekly (fascinating) conversations.
My ideal candidate would be a leader with experience at the helm of a diverse institution. That candidate would be sensitive to the need to have indigenous faculty, deans, researchers, providers and staff.
I think collaboration is a big deal so that’s a good one to include. I also think it’s important to have someone who can work successfully as an advocate for the University among those who seek to further cut funding. The University is a huge economic driver for the State and it’s important to maintain State support for it.
1) They need to schedule listening sessions at times faculty are available. 8 am in the summer looks like they don’t want us to show up. 2) Someone who understands the work of education, research, and outreach are fundamentally about people and relationships. That means fixing campus culture, not messing around with GA benefits when they think no one is looking during the summer, paying people what they’re worth. Among other things. And of course, experience that provides an understanding of our very different universities.
Collaboration is good. Absolutely essential is having the person who can obliterate the idea some members of the Unicameral have that the NU system but particularly UNL is unfair to conservative students. They are out to punish the U and their understanding of how the University functions at the classroom level is detrimental to future growth and funding issues.
Hiring someone who can see the further development of Innovation Campus and continue to increase funding across the other campuses is critical.