Proctor shares ideas on university chancellor
July 8, 2009
Historic City News has learned that the Florida Board of Governors is only a few days off from seeing the final list of applicants for the top job of running the state university system.
Rep. William Proctor, who chairs the House’s higher education budget committee, said he would like to see a candidate who knows his or her way around a big university system and also has considerable political skill.
The Legislature and Board of Governors have largely been at odds over the past few years. And this year, the university system has been desperate for funds, with several universities announcing layoffs and program cuts for the upcoming academic year.
A candidate who already runs a large university or helps run a university would be ideal, Proctor said.
“I think ideally you need both (political and academic credentials),” Proctor said. “I think all of the higher education system is in such a turbulent state that you really need someone who needs both. I don’t know that you can afford to do on the job training.”
The 13- member search committee will meet by phone conference on July 13 to finalize the list of people they want to interview. The interviews will take place on July 17 and the full board will meet by phone following the interviews for a final vote on the new chancellor.
Kathleen Haughney, with The News Service of Florida, reported that Committee chair Carolyn Roberts has said that the board is looking for someone who can strike the right balance of academic credentials and political savvy.
It appeared as though former Senate President Jim King was a likely candidate, however, King had to drop out after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and Roberts acknowledged that slowed the process.
So far, the Board of Govenrors has seen 10 applications for the chancellorship, a job vacated by new Florida International University President Mark Rosenberg earlier this year. University of North Florida President John Delaney has been working as chancellor in an interim capacity but is not interested in pursuing the job full time.
The Board received eight applications through an open process earlier this year. And a consultant sent two additional names to the board this week.
The previously released eight applicants for the job that have been made public so far include M.T. Attaf, professor at the University of Quebec; Steve Hoagland, research consultant at the University of California-Irvine; Larry Lemanski, senior vice president for research at Temple University; Steve MacNamara, associate professor at Florida State; Preston Mercer, professor at University of South Florida Polytechnic; Simon Priest, acting president of Marco Polo International University; Chris Sliwa, associate professor at Fayetteville State University; Bernard Weiss, former faculty member at Southern University.
The board released two additional names Tuesday – Richard Berman, president of Manhattanville College in New York, and Jesse Balseiro, a doctor and former Louisiana State University department chair who now works as a radiology consultant.
The board’s consultant is expected to provide additional applications to the board by the end of the week. Florida Atlantic University President Frank Brogan, who resigned his spot on the chancellor search committee, is widely expected to apply.
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VOTE NOVEMBER 2, 2010
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FINALISTS NAMED FOR CHANCELLOR INTERVIEWS
By KATHLEEN HAUGHNEY
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, July 13, 2009… A former lieutenant governor, a Florida State University professor, the former head of Ohio’s university system, and the head of the largest community college system in the country are all finalists to run Florida’s higher education system.
The search committee for a new state university system chancellor met Monday to finalize a list of applicants who are invited for interviews with the committee on Friday in Tampa. The full Board of Governors will also likely make an offer to the top candidate that day as well.
Florida Atlantic University President and former lieutenant governor Frank Brogan, Florida State Professor and former legislative staffer Steve MacNamara, former Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Roderick G. W. Chu, and Ivy Tech Community College President and former CEO and President of Delco Remy International Thomas Snyder will all be interviewed by the committee Friday.
The board received 13 applications total for the position after soliciting consultant William Funk & Associates to conduct a nationwide search for a potential new chancellor.
The search began this winter after former Chancellor Mark Rosenberg stepped down from the top spot to return to Florida International University. University of North Florida President John Delaney has been serving as chancellor in an interim capacity, but is not interested in pursuing the top job full time.
The committee has made clear they want someone who is able to work well with the Legislature. Historically, the Board of Governors and lawmakers have had a rocky relationship. But that relationship improved over the past session as the system leaders heavily lobbied lawmakers to essentially save the system from disaster, which some university presidents feared would occur if heavy budget cuts took place.
“I think one of the things I’ve learned sitting in this chair essentially since the fall…this is a doable job and in this time right now, the relationship with the Legislature is really warming up,” Delaney said. “It’s clearly thawed.”
Consultant Bill Funk told the search committee that higher education leaders across the country regarded the chancellorship as an important role and forwarded many recommendations to him. However, he said there was some tentativeness among applicants who did not wish for their interest in the job to be known. Florida’s open records law requires that applications for the job be made public.
Funk recommended Brogan, Chu and Snyder as the finalist for the interviews.
Funk called Brogan “eminently qualified” for the job based on the search committee’s parameters for a new chancellor.
“He understands the political dimensions of Florida, how the Legislature works,” Funk said. “I think it’s clear that Frank would be an excellent candidate.”
Several board members expressed a desire to add MacNamara to the list, citing his political and academic experience as a reason to give him a seat at the interview table.
“I think that he (should be interviewed), from his resume and what I’ve been reading about him ,” said AJ Meyer, the former student representative on the Board of Governors who is serving on the committee.
MacNamara served as chief of staff to former Speaker John Thrasher, and was the subject of an ethics complaint six years ago when he was accused of representing a private client while it wasn’t clear whether he was still working for Thrasher. The complaint, however, was dismissed.
MacNamara has served as an associate professor of communication at Florida State and also worked as executive director of the Claude Pepper Center at FSU, associate vice president for academic affairs at FSU, and associate dean of FSU’s College of Law.
The following statement was received by Historic City News from the Governor’s Office today:
“I congratulate Chancellor Brogan on his selection. We are making positive steps in improving Florida’s higher education system based on accountability and achievement. The administration looks forward to working with the Board of Governors and Chancellor Brogan in making Florida a national leader in higher education.”