Boston University may have a new president by as early as September, according to both Board of Trustees chairman Christopher Barreca and Chancellor John Silber.
John Isaacson of Isaacson, Miller, the firm assisting the search committee, also said he believed having a new president by this September was ‘feasible.’
‘It’s pure speculation at this phase, but [next fall] is an entirely feasible mark,’ Isaacson said.
Silber said in an interview with The Daily Free Press this week that he does not want to continue performing the duties of BU president next fall, and said he had other personal matters he wants to fulfill.
‘I’m not looking forward to continuing this,’ Silber said. ‘If it is necessary I’ll do it, but that is not my desire in the matter.
‘I have the books that I want to finish and I have other things that I need to do, you know, before I kick off,’ he said.
Silber previously served as BU president from 1971 to 1996 and reassumed the office’s duties last summer after former president Jon Westling was forced to resign. BU is currently searching for its ninth president.
Silber said he hopes the university will have a new president by September, though he said there were no definite plans.
The rest of the search process should take ‘weeks rather than months,’ Barreca said in an interview last week. He said he believes the search committee has already found several solid candidates from inside the academic world.
‘I think we’ve already got candidates in the pipeline … who are already in very significant university roles around the country,’ Barreca said.
Boston Globe columnist Steve Bailey reported yesterday that the search committee had come up with a list of 13 possible candidates for the position, but Isaacson said he could neither confirm nor deny that information yesterday afternoon. He said there could be many under consideration.
‘There are lots of candidates, and no single number can signify how many there are,’ Isaacson said. ‘There are lots more people under consideration than 13.’
The lone student representative on the committee, Student Union president Ethan Clay, also said the search committee did not have a specific number of candidates as of its last meeting a month ago. He said it would not be beneficial for the committee to release information regarding the candidates.
‘I think that Chancellor John Silber and [Chairman] Barreca are the best sources of info for that I haven’t been given any info recently,’ Clay said. ‘For the sake of the candidates the search process must be kept confidential and therefore I cannot reveal the names of candidates.’
But Board of Trustee member Esther A.H. Hopkins said neither she, nor the rest of the trustees not on the search committee, were given names of candidates at a recent meeting of the entire board in Scottsdale, Ariz.
She said this was so they could have a fair selection process and so candidates could express interest in the position without losing their current jobs.
‘Anybody that they would be interested in, they would be working,’ Hopkins said. ‘If we were looking at 13 people, we wouldn’t want 12 people having their employers looking at what they are doing in the meanwhile.’
Hopkins said board members not on the committee have only been given ‘general ideas of what is happening’ with the presidential search.
A NATIONAL SEARCH
Isaacson could not give information regarding specific candidates either, but said the focus of the search is on the domestic academic world.
‘The search is going on all over America there might very well be international candidates but there are certainly national ones,’ Isaacson said. ‘[The search is] far more academic than in any other arena. Candidates have a broad range of backgrounds, but the search is focusing on the academic world.’
Bailey’s column claimed Daniel Goldin, former head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was a candidate for the position, but Isaacson would neither confirm nor deny that Goldin is a candidate. He called the column ‘speculation.’
The column also said Nobel Laureate and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Samuel Ting recommended Goldin to BU. Ting was out of the country last night and did not return phone calls.
Isaacson, Miller’s website said BU is looking for a president who is strong academically and fiscally.
‘The new President must be a strong leader with an unyielding commitment to intellectual excellence across the broad range of academic programs, possess an intuitive understanding of the university’s historic role as an urban institution committed to contributing to the great city that is its home, and an innovative and entrepreneurial institution builder capable of seizing opportunities and creatively building upon a substantial record of accomplishment,’ according to the firm’s website.
A presidential search document that outlines the requirements of the position of president at BU and gives information about the university has not yet been released to the public.
BU spokesman Colin Riley said last night the document has yet to be shared with members of the Board of Trustees, a fact that Hopkins said has angered many members of the board.
She said the document would be made public once it is completed.
‘It is supposed to be a public document when it gets finished it wasn’t ready at the last meeting,’ Hopkins said. ‘People were concerned about when it would be finished … people were concerned that they didn’t have it at the meeting.’
Hopkins said the document is important to the process because it details the requirements a candidate would need to know.
‘It is something that is supposed to prepare candidates,’ she said. ‘If you are talking about people who are away from this area, they don’t know much about BU and they need to have some idea about where it comes from and what we are looking for.’
SEARCH FIRM FUTURE
Isaacson said the role of the search firm in the process is to find candidates and inform the Trustees of their qualifications. Isaacson, Miller was involved in finding Cornell University’s president last year.
‘We are staff to the search committee,’ Isaacson said. ‘The committee makes all the decisions our job is to bring them all the information.’
The search committee held three open forums earlier this year for students, faculty and alumni to express their opinions regarding the presidential search. Faculty Council chair William Skocpol, also a member of the search committee, said those forums were invaluable to the process.
‘That provided valuable input to the document describing Boston University and the challenges facing the next president, as well as providing information to Mr. Isaacson and members of the search committee,’ he said.
Though Clay did not run for Union president again for next year, his position on the search committee will remain, after Silber sent him a letter inviting him to serve on future committees. Clay said he responded to Silber by asking his seat to be given to Carl Woog, who will assume the Student Union presidency next year.
‘I believe the students at Boston University deserve their elected representative to serve on the committee,’ Clay said.
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