Campus News

UK Presidential Search on Track for Finalists, Selection

HEBRON, Ky. (March 24, 2011) -- After more than 30 hours of interviews over two-and-a-half-days, University of Kentucky Board of Trustees Chairman Britt Brockman believes the presidential search process is on track to have three to five finalists by April 11.

Those candidates would then be forwarded to the Board of Trustees for interviews, a campus visit or visits, and a selection by early May, Brockman said. The UK Board of Trustees hopes to select the university's 12th president in early May to replace outgoing President Lee T. Todd Jr., who will retire in June after 10 years at the helm of his alma mater.

"The process has gone very smoothly thus far and, more importantly, I've been extremely pleased with the quality and depth of our candidate pool," Brockman said Thursday afternoon. "We've interviewed a number of folks who would, in my judgment, be outstanding presidents at UK.

“The challenge now will be cutting the pool to a handful of finalists, which is a reflection of the quality we've attracted."

The 13-member search committee -- along with search consultants Greenwood/Asher -- conducted initial interviews with preferred candidates this week at a hotel in Northern Kentucky. The search committee worked 14-hour days Tuesday and Wednesday and another several hours on Thursday.

Brockman declined to specify the number of candidates interviewed. But he said the search committee is beginning to narrow the field in terms of which nominees they now want more information about for further consideration.

Jim Stuckert, chairman of the search committee, said this process is more complex than the search that led to the appointment of President Todd, in large part because UK is much larger and the economic conditions and issues involved are more challenging.

"Under President Todd, we've grown from an institution with a roughly $1.2 billion budget to nearly $2.5 billion. The hospital has grown from some $300 million in revenues to nearly $800 million," Stuckert said. "We're building a new hospital. We've more than doubled our research capacity, and yet we are operating in a time of flat state support, increased pressure on families and students in terms of their ability to afford college and a continuing need to maintain and improve the infrastructure of our campus."

All of those conditions, Stuckert said, are not unique to UK, but they make the job of chief executive more complex. "In an important respect, we are challenged by our success. And we are challenged by the incredible aspiration we have to become a Top 20 university.

“None of the universities in the Top 20, as Dr. Todd often says, have volunteered to step aside. That makes our job this time around more challenging and the stakes are even higher."

The next step, Brockman said, is to do a "360 vetting process" where references are called, resumes and accomplishments are checked, and further background reviews conducted. "We want to move quickly, but it's more important to be diligent and thorough given the importance of this process," Brockman added.

Brockman reiterated that the candidates come from a variety of backgrounds -- academic, governmental and business -- although the majority of the nominees currently work at universities in a variety of top-level administrative posts.

He said the field is diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, race and professional background. And he said that some of the candidates, undoubtedly, are in the running for top positions at other universities, a "reflection of the competitive environment in which we are searching for a president."

But Brockman said UK offers a number of competitive advantages, including the fact that the university is one of only seven that offers the full range of academic, professional and medical colleges on one campus. And, he said, while UK has been significantly impacted by budget cuts -- some nine in the past 10 years -- Kentucky higher education has not experienced the kind of double-digit reductions that other states have grappled with during the national recession.

Finally, Brockman said that UK's aspirations to become a Top 20 public research institution have attracted interest from top-level candidates.

"The ambition and the mandate to become Top 20 are an incredible challenge. But that challenge is clearly very attractive to many of these candidates," Brockman said. "They can see the undeniable progress we've made under President Todd, but they also know the financial constraints of the last several years have created some hurdles to clear. The candidates want to know our commitment to the goal."

Brockman said the search committee is unequivocal with candidates that the goal is both a mandate from the state, but also the right thing to do for Kentucky.

"Under President Todd, a strong foundation has been built with the Top 20 Business Plan and the gains we've made in enrollment and graduation rates, our incredible research growth and a renewed commitment to service and engagement to the Commonwealth," he said. "We have the opportunity to build upon that strong foundation. I'm confident we have a candidate in our midst who can be that president as we continue to aspire to be a flagship institution that helps fuel the engine of our state's economy and educates Kentucky's and the country's future leaders."