Yesterday’s meeting was quite eventful as the Committee
voted to bring in another search firm, Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates. This
firm was interviewed at the first Presidential Search Advisory Committee
meeting on March 21. The firm highlighted its commitment to diversity at that
meeting, and I don’t know much else about the firm besides what was said at
that meeting. I am a bit ambivalent about a new search firm. On the one hand, I
think it is important to have someone on your side that has ties to the
academic community and can work its networks to encourage highly qualified
candidates. On the other hand, unless this firm has a plan to work around the
“long shadow” front-runner and to rebuild trust in the process, then it seems
like a huge waste of FSU money.
What was also noteworthy to me about the meeting: a) how few
PSAC members showed up at this important meeting and b) how little time was
devoted to public comment.
I was struck by the number of people missing, especially the
Chair of the PSAC and the Chair of the BOT, both of whom called in. It was announced that some people
were on a Boosters' cruise, and I heard that another prominent member of the
Committee was at a fishing tournament. This strikes me as very, very odd
considering that a) this meeting was supposed to be Senator Thrasher’s
interview and b) this meeting date was set many months ago. They didn’t know
about the cruise when they set the meeting, a meeting that has been scheduled for months? And a fishing tournament is more
important than a search for the president of one of two of Florida’s preeminent
universities? (I sure hope my source was wrong—this is so unacceptable in my
book.) But the faculty members on the Committee were present and were vocal, and I thank them for their service on this Committee.
I was also awfully surprised that public comment was limited
to 10 minutes at the beginning of a meeting scheduled for three hours, and each speaker was given only 2 minutes to speak. The reasoning given by Chairman Burr was that the Committee had a lot to do, but even with the 10 minutes of
discussion, and the additional 10 minutes that was prompted by my Communication
colleague in the audience and motioned by one of the faculty members on the
Committee, the meeting was over in a little more than an hour. Why limit stakeholders to just 10 minutes? If it is clear that we are all going to say the same thing (it was said that they'd choose "representatives" from the different groups to speak), then perhaps it's time to really listen, no? And what about the alumnus who took off work to come here from
Tampa to be limited to just two minutes to speak? Was there anyone else in line
to speak who didn’t have the opportunity?
I thought BOT Chair Bense had said that he had
wanted to hear from everyone, but the motion on the floor was 10 minutes, so
time remained limited. Limiting the voices of the FSU community is very
disheartening, but those who spoke had a clear message. The search process
needs to be reset.
As the Board of Governor’s member Mr. Morton suggested, the
PSAC and BOT definitely need to rebuild trust in the search. Limiting
community voices doesn’t invoke trust, and neither did the implication that the
timeline would be decided by the new search firm and Ed Burr rather than
discussed and decided in an open meeting. I think that was resolved, though it
was very difficult to understand Chairman Burr at that point as we could only
hear every other word coming from the members of the Committee who dialed in.
A reset of the search means more than a new search firm. A
solid application deadline and clear timeline, adherence to the criterion
regarding a distinguished academic with leadership skills as presented by the
Faculty Senate, and additional representation of faculty and students on the
search committee would move us closer. I also hope that the new search firm
plans to meet with stakeholders as Funk did but this time listen carefully to
faculty and student input more than the input of politicos involved in the
process. As we know, even the appearance of impropriety taints the legitimacy
of the search. This is why a true reset of the search is necessary.
And I must say kudos to all of the students, the faculty, and the alumnus who spoke and the many who attended the meeting. Your voices were heard by the press and the Committee, and your presence was extremely important.[1][2][3][4][5] We are clearly making a difference. I encourage all of you and those who couldn’t attend to continue to post comments on the presidential search website and to email the PSAC and the BOT with your comments and nominations.
