Just a quick note to say that the Presidential Search Advisory Committee meeting that was originally scheduled as a phone conference is now scheduled as a public meeting for this Friday, June 20, from 11-12 in 208 Turnbull Center. The agenda hasn't been posted, but I'm assuming the timeline will be discussed at this meeting.
At the last meeting, a colleague who unfortunately couldn't make it to the meeting sent me a text quoting a colleague of his from another university who noted that Eric Cantor is now available to apply for president. I think this would be funnier if it didn't hit so close to home. Take a look at this article by the AP's Gary Fineout who points out the political connections of the search committee. As we've been saying from the beginning, the search committee make-up is extremely problematic, and this article notes some of the reasons why. http://findout.typepad.com/.
I am still hearing that a politician as president is necessary because we need to be able to get additional money from the Legislature. Why is it, then, that the other preeminent university in Florida is committed to hiring a distinguished academic rather than a politician? See the following note sent to UF constituents this week: http://presidentsearch.ufl.edu/about/chairman-updates/ THIS is the kind of search so many of us have been pushing for, and we need to keep the pressure on if we are going to get it. If you'd like to contact the BOT and you are using Outlook or a similar email service, you can click here: Send email to the BOT
I hope that all faculty and students and alumni and concerned supporters will plan to attend the meeting Friday. We need to show that we are still watching. There have been quite a few people nominated in the last week, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they'll apply. If you know anyone who is qualified to apply, please encourage them to do so.
