The Special Committee on the Nomination of a President met yesterday in an open session to continue its discussion of the qualities it seeks in the next University president. Afterward, the committee met in a private executive session to begin reviewing a list of potential nominees and candidates.
According to University spokesperson Carol Wood, yesterday was the first day the committee considered a significant number of potential candidates' names. The committee's executive session agenda stated it would begin to tabulate a preliminary list of the top five candidates during the meeting, but Wood said this did not occur.
"We've been collecting names ever since the process started, and more people will still be nominated or will nominate themselves," Wood said.
As the committee progresses toward finding a new president, Wood said the committee - well aware of the search's importance, both to the University and in the context of a changing higher education landscape - will not hold itself to a strict timeline and will perform as thorough a process as possible.
Wood said committee members have talked with college and university leaders across the nation and are currently reviewing input from many sources, including students and professors. Before going into its closed session, the committee held an open session to address what it and other University community members were looking for in a new president.
John O. Wynne, the committee's chairman and rector of the University's Board of Visitors, cited emotional intelligence, flexibility and talent in hiring University administrators and faculty as important qualities the University's next leader must possess.
The committee also reviewed several readings and books, such as "Leadership that Gets Results" and "What Leaders Really Do," to help members evaluate candidates and outline presidential qualifications.
"It's important for the president to have a less autocratic style because of our nature as a public university," Board of Visitors member Warren Thompson said.
Ann Hamric, nursing professor and Faculty Senate chair, said she worried that the new president might direct too much of his attention toward fundraising at the beginning of his administration. The economic future of the University is an important issue, especially as commonwealth funding decreases, but the next president should focus on the University's internal issues during the beginning of his term and emphasize monetary contributions only later in his career, she said.
Apart from specific issues, Wynne agreed with Hamric's analysis that the next president's role should evolve over time. The president "is going to be different in the first year than in the sixth or seventh year," he said.
Other committee members also worried they might be expecting too much from potential candidates.
"We need to keep in mind that we are looking for a human being, who might not be able to do all these things," Board Member Vincent Mastracco said.
Former Board Member Gordon Rainey, however, noted that until the committee starts to evaluate the specific candidates discussed at yesterday's meeting, "this is really just a theoretical discussion"
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