Faculty Council hears update on progress of presidential search

The co-chairs of the Presidential Search Committee said they hope that CU’s next president will be named by mid- to late April, they told Faculty Council during its Jan. 24 meeting at 1800 Grant St.

Regents Heidi Ganahl and Irene Griego phoned into the meeting to update the governance group on the process, which is “starting to heat up,” Ganahl said.

“It’s really important that if anyone has someone they want to nominate (for consideration), we need those as soon as possible,” said Ganahl, who expects an initial list of 25 candidates to be provided by the search firm in late February.

The committee plans to narrow the field to 10 candidates, who will be invited to “airport interviews.” The 10 will be narrowed to five, by consensus, before the Board of Regents chooses a single finalist.

Ganahl said members of the board recently met with Gov. Jared Polis to gather his input; several “key leaders” in the Legislature also have provided feedback.

Members of the council told the regents a town hall-style meeting between the finalist(s) and faculty members would be useful before the board votes for the next president. Griego said that idea, as well as making available recordings of any such forums, will be explored by the board.

Faculty Council Chair Joanne Addison, who is a member of the search committee, reminded council members of the board’s charge to the Presidential Search Committee; it includes a list of desired attributes for the next president as compiled by members of all campus communities.

The Board of Regents retained Wheless Partners as its executive search consultant in the presidential search. Nominations for the presidency may be submitted to CUCEO@Whelesspartners.com.

In other business at last week’s meeting:

• The council discussed a memo sent last week from the Board of Regents University Affairs Committee to the full board regarding the promotion of civics literacy education at the campuses. The recommendations in the memo will be reviewed by the board and may be voted on in resolutions at the Feb. 13-14 meeting at CU South Denver. Addison said the memo reflects input from faculty, including requests that the regents not create additional barriers to student admission or graduation, that the wishes of the individual campuses be respected and that the curriculum be determined by faculty.
• Todd Saliman, vice president of budget and finance and chief financial officer, gave a presentation on newly created metrics that the Board of Regents will use to measure performance. Saliman said his office has worked to make the data accessible and user-friendly.
• Sandy Martin, chair of the Faculty Senate Privilege and Tenure Committee, reported on the status of current cases. In various stages of review, they are two cases of academic rights at CU Denver, one case of academic rights at CU Boulder and two cases of tenure denial at CU Boulder. Martin said more committee members are needed.