Committee hopes to choose new president by June

By Edina A.T. Strum
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 17, 1997

Committee hopes to choose new president by June

The UA Presidential Search Committee is looking for a world-class leader for a world-class institution, the committee's chairman said Friday.

In its first meeting, the committee discussed the timetable and ground rules for the search for Manuel Pacheco's replacement, including:

A June deadline to have a new president chosen

The use of a search consultant - Bill Bowen of Bowen, Heidrick & Struggles, a consulting firm

Strict confidentiality of applicants' names until they agree to be interviewed

Placement of a job announcement in The Chronicle of Higher Education and other academic journals.

Although Pacheco offered to stay in office until the end of his contract, Dec. 31, Regent John Munger, chairman of the committee, asked the committee to come to a decision by June to make it possible for a new president to be in office by the start of the fall semester.

If that goal cannot be met, Munger said Jan. 1 is the latest date the new president will begin work.

By Wednesday, each committee member will turn in a list of qualities they believe the next president should possess.

Munger presented his ideas Friday. His list for the next president included:

Having the vision to take the university forward in its goals and be able to bring the community together in support of the UA
Being a person who wants to bring as much to the UA as it will bring to them - a person who is not just building a resume
Having experience in academia to be able to understand where the university is and where it is going.

The committee will meet in late February to approve the job announcement, which will be published nationally by March 1.