University of Iowa Faculty Senate President Richard LeBlond addressed the Iowa Board of Regents today (February 2) on the search process for a new University of Iowa President. LeBlond's statement represented the sentiments voiced at an emergency meeting of the Faculty Senate, Staff Council and Student Assembly held on Monday, January 30th.
Following the statement, the Board immediately went into executive session. When the public session began again at 3 p.m., the Board approved an RFP for a firm to assist in the search for a UI president. The Board then passed a motion to permit the president of the Board of Regents to name a search committee following a meeting in Iowa City in which several Board members will be in attendance to speak with UI faculty, staff and students.
Regent Bob Downer expressed to the Board the desire for as many Board members as possible to be at the meeting in Iowa City. The meeting is being planned to occur prior to the next Board of Regents meeting at the end of March.
PRESENTATION TO THE BOARD OF REGENTS, STATE OF IOWA
February 2, 2006
Richard F. LeBlond, M.D., F.A.C.P.
President, University of Iowa Faculty Senate
President Gartner, members of the Board of Regents, thank you for the opportunity to address you this morning about the upcoming search for a new president at the University of Iowa. I am Richard LeBlond, president of the University of Iowa Faculty Senate and I speak on behalf of the elected leadership of the University of Iowa Faculty Senate, Staff Council and Student Government representing the 43,000 people who are the University of Iowa. Michelle Wichman, president of Staff Council, and Mark Kresowik, president of Student Government, have accompanied me today. It is regrettable that they were not given an opportunity to speak. President Gartner has recently said, regarding economic development, that "the most effective projects are those where there are great partnerships." 1 Our goal is to partner with the Board of Regents in planning the structure of your search and screen process.
The mission we all share is to recruit an excellent president for the University of Iowa and to assure strong campus support for the new President. The Board of Regents has the responsibility and the authority to determine the search process and to select the members of the search committee. We do not wish it otherwise. Furthermore, the Regents have always and will always appoint the president of the University. On these points we agree.
Substantial concern has arisen on campus since the resignation of President Skorton. The emotions always engendered by a change in leadership were heightened by uncertainty about the Regents' intentions as they approach this search. The structure of the search process at the University of Northern Iowa is a significant departure from the historical precedents for presidential searches, particularly for the University of Iowa. Our three constituencies feel strongly that a committee with such limited faculty participation, especially without a faculty chair, seriously reduces the expertise available to the Search and Screen Committee. Our concern reflects the dedication we have to the University of Iowa and our commitment to its future.
We desire to have open and collegial communication with the Regents to uphold the principles of communication established in the Board's Operations Manual: "it is the Board's expectation that the policies set forth above will be administered to the end that the Board understands the viewpoints of faculty, students, and staff and that these groups understand the viewpoints of the Board." 2
President Gartner has said "there is no constituency for change." 3 There should, however, be reasons for change. Therefore, we have several questions that all of us, especially the Board, should address, and answer explicitly:
1. Have the previous presidential searches been successful?
After serving at the University of Iowa the last four presidents have left to lead major universities (Dartmouth, Cornell and the University of Michigan) of higher academic standing and greater prestige than the University of Iowa, where, to date, they have had long and distinguished careers. It seems reasonable to conclude that the search process used for these presidents was highly successful.
2. Why have these searches been so successful?
After consulting with the chairs of three of the last four searches (the fourth having recused himself as a member of central administration) we and our constituencies have concluded that the key factors leading to successful searches and strong support from the University community for the new presidents were:
1. A University-based search committee made up largely of faculty, staff and students and housed on campus;
2. Faculty were a majority of each search committee; and
3. The chairman of the committee was a faculty member.
It is worth noting that each of the last four presidents was identified to the Search and Screen Committee, not through the activities of the search firm or advertising, but through the academic contacts and networking of faculty members on the committee.
3. What are the reasons for contemplating a change in the search process?
In the vernacular, "if it ain't broke, why fix it?" History tells us that one of the only reliable guides for the future is the precedent of the past, a concept well established in our system of jurisprudence. There should be clearly articulated reasons to change a successful process that has served the Regents, the University and the State of Iowa so well.
4. If in the judgment of the Board of Regents, these searches are now assessed to have been less successful than commonly assumed, what are the new criteria for success?
5. If the criteria for success have changed, what are the implications for the recently approved strategic plans of the University and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics? Does the Board intend to take the University in a new direction?
6. Who will represent the University of Iowa community of faculty, staff and students to the Board of Regents in planning this search for a new president?
Shared Governance has a long tradition at the University of Iowa and is highly valued by the University administration as well as the faculty, staff and students. It is an essential element of our University culture that supports close working relationships between faculty, staff, students and the University administration. In normal circumstances leadership of the three constituencies advises the University president, and the president communicates with the Board of Regents. However, both University and Board policies give the elected leadership of faculty, staff and students the privilege of communicating directly with the Board.
These are not normal circumstances. In the search for a president, University administrators recuse themselves from the process because of potential conflicts of interest. Historically, the chair of the Search and Screen Committee has been a faculty member and this person could express the views of the University community to the Regents. The docket item on your agenda today will, if approved, "authorize the Board President, in consultation with the Board of Regents, to appoint a chair of the University of Iowa Presidential Search and Screen Committee and to nominate individuals to serve on the committee." 3 Who is to represent the views of the University community to the Regents in these deliberations? It appears reasonable that the elected leadership of the faculty, staff and students are in the best position to do so.
Leading change is difficult and requires planning and the cooperation of all stakeholders. The literature on this subject emphasizes that "change involves numerous phases, that, together usually take a long time. Skipping steps creates only an illusion of speed and never produces a satisfying result.... Critical mistakes in any of the phases can have a devastating impact, slowing momentum and negating previous gains." 5
Each of the Regents Universities is unique. The University of Iowa is not only the largest, but by far the most complex of the three universities with 2,000 faculty, 12,000 staff, 20,000 undergraduate, 5,500 graduate and 4,000 professional students in eleven colleges, including six professional colleges, with 188 departments offering 146 undergraduate majors and 150 graduate programs leading to Masters, PhD and professional degrees. The search committee should have sufficient faculty representation to provide expertise and insight into the missions of this wide range of disciplines. The University is an elite research institution whose faculty last year generated over $400,000,000 of direct and indirect external funding, virtually all of which was new revenue to Iowa. Knowledge of the complexity of the research effort will be vital to the daily deliberations of the search committee. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in collaboration with the Carver College of Medicine is one of the nation's leading academic medical centers with an operating budget of nearly $700,000,000. UIHC is a complex and highly regulated business as well as an educational and research institution. Experience with the health care, educational and business aspects of UIHC will be important to the deliberations of the committee. No committee can have representation from each of these colleges or all constituencies, but the Presidential Search and Screen Committee should have sufficient faculty membership to inform all of its deliberations.
We encourage you to include the presidents of the faculty, staff and student organizations in your discussions, not to control, but to inform your planning. Successful searches are collaborative efforts based upon consensus building through discussion. Our mutual goals are to have a process that will identify the very best panel of candidates from which the Board will select our next president and to ensure strong campus support for the screen and search process and the next president of the University of Iowa. One of the most important ways to ensure this support is to fully utilize the exceptional skills and experience of our faculty on the Presidential Search and Screen Committee.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. We appreciate the hard and often thankless work for which the Regents volunteer their time on behalf of the University of Iowa, the other Regents universities, the Special Schools and the citizens of Iowa. We will be happy to answer any questions.
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1. Board of Regents president Michael Gartner's Presentation to the House Economic Growth Committee, January 24, 2006.
2. Board of Regents, State of Iowa Operations Manuel: Chapter 2, Meetings, Section 2.08 Communications of Students, Faculty, and Staff with Board.
3. Personal communication, January 30, 2006.
4. Board of Regents, State of Iowa, February 1-2, 2006 meeting docket: agenda item 11 Revised, point 4.
5. Kotter, JP. Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review, February 1, 2000. The quotation is taken from the online summary at the Harvard Business Review website.